As millions lose jobs, Fed policymakers say recession is here

[Igel]

2. But it's not a meaningful term.

With "recession" comes all sorts of economic information.

This is weird, not a downturn based on economic factors but a diktat, the government basically compelling a cessation of economic activity. It's one thing for a company to go belly up because it's inefficient, can't be run profitably, has built up too much debt. It's a different kind of thing that it's shut down and kept shut so long that the owners can't keep it functional or it's in such disarray afterwards that it can't get started before it's bankrupt.

The closest I've seen is some totalitarian countries.

What's left when it's over won't be the usual results of a recession. Recessions often have a way of liquidating marginal or less productive companies. That's not the case here.