Field Notes Inside an Integrated Communications Agency

As a writer, I choose my words carefully. And while word repetition is something I try to avoid (it’s viewed as lazy and uninspired), it can be useful in emphasizing a point or creating rhythm. What I didn’t realize was that word repetition can be an indicator of our economic future. Last month, AdAge reported on the number of times the Wall Street Journal has used the word “recession” in 2008. Then they compared that number to 1991, which was the highest in most recent times. While the total usage number for 2008 is only a little over half that of 1991, the number of articles using the word recession is trailing by only 50. Also interesting to note is that in 2001, a.k.a the year of the dot.com collapse, the use of the word “recession” shot up three months before the bottom fell out. Some may argue that we’ve reached the lowest point. But the numbers — or words — may tell a different story.

Side note: It might be interesting to take this research to Google search trends and conduct a similar study on the word "depression."