By: jackie.sauter

On the way to work today, I was talking with a co-worker about recessions. Are we actually in one, and, if so, how can we tell?

Most economists say that it can take several months of being in a recession for experts to actually determine that we’re in one, and sometimes we don’t know for sure until well after they’re over.

If you’ve heard and believed forecasts that the economy will bounce back in the second half of the year, Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein has some bad news for you.

Unlike some financial gurus (see: Warren Buffet) who say the limping economy and announcements of job cuts are a sure sign that we’re already in a recession, Pearlstein writes in Friday’s Post that the trouble has just begun.

Pearlstein says the only way we can get the economy back in shape is by “letting the dollar fall to its natural level, wringing the excess capacity out of industries that overexpanded during the credit bubble and allowing real estate prices to fall in line with incomes.”

What do you think — are we already in a recession, or is the worst yet to come?

DANIELLE ULMAN, Business Writer