Negative Growth
Created | Updated Feb 7, 2008
Negative Growth
As this phrase is often heard in relation to business matters it seems safe to assume that it means downturns in economic circles. (For clarity I should add that by 'economic circles' I am not actually referring to any literal circles, spheres or similar geometric shapes. Instead I mean the world of business, the global economy, stock markets and the like).
'Negative growth'. What a pointless product of the 'spin' age that phrase really is. Instead of state that, in fact, things have all gone a bit Belgium of late and lots of people are losing lots of money (but it doesn't really matter to the rest of us as the people losing lots of money had lots of money to lose anyway, and it's not like we're personally out of pocket or anything, although of course we probably will be as the people losing lots of money seek to regain their loses by whatever means possible) - instead of that, it is suggested that growth of a negative type has somehow taken place.
Such a phenomena is clearly against the laws of nature - trees, frogs, tree frogs if you like, do not negatively grow! Only stock markets, that wonderful human invention, act in such a manner. As far as we know. Granted that future generations may advance scientific knowledge further and one day it may be revealed that negative growth is in fact entirely in line with the laws of nature, physics and, most importantly, supply and demand. But until that day let us not condone this nonsense terminology.
Collapse. Decline. Shrinkage. Global fiscal meltdown due to massive overexposure to sub-prime mortgage debts in the US. There are plenty of words that could be used instead, so let them be used and stop 'spinning'.
