Dictionary

vibecession en · NOUN

Etymology

Blend of vibe (“an atmosphere or aura”) + recession. Coined by American financial content creator, educator, and author Kyla Scanlon in a June 2022 article.

Meanings

1. (neologism) A general state of societal pessimism about the economy, independently of whether a recession is currently happening.
   • Americans are gloomy about the state of the economy. Since the covid-19 pandemic began, consumer sentiment has been in the doldrums, hitting its lowest level ever in June 2022. Such negativity has prompted claims that the country is suffering a "vibecession"—although the market appears healthy, good vibes are lacking. 2023 September 7, “The pandemic has broken a closely followed survey of sentiment”, in The Economist, London: The Economist Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Nov 2023:
   • "I think people have gotten angrier," she said. "I think we're actually in a worse vibecession now." 2023 November 17, Jeanna Smialek, Jim Tankersley, quoting Kyla Scanlon, “Biden Faces Economic Challenges as Cost-of-Living Despair Floods TikTok”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 05 Dec 2023:
   • So, this is my favorite theory: The vibecession prevented the real recession. In medicine, weaker versions of a virus, like the flu, inoculate people against the real thing. By analogy, Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his melancholy minions essentially administered an injection of mostly safe gloom into the economic bloodstream, which seems to have triggered just the right level of macroeconomic immune response to reduce inflation without causing a downturn. 2023 August 3, Derek Thompson, “How the Recession Doomers Got the U.S. Economy So Wrong”, in Jeffrey Goldberg, editor, The Atlantic, Washington, D.C.: The Atlantic Monthly Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 12 Oct 2023:
   • The concept of a vibecession may feel like a cop-out. But it’s a good starting point for understanding where we’re really at. 2022 August 13, Kevin T. Dugan, “Are We in a Recession or a Vibecession?”, in Intelligencer, New York, N.Y.: New York Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 03 Oct 2022:

Forms

Coordinates

boom · depression · recession

wikidata: Q124655746