NBER are a bunch of lampshades who inhale air conditioners through their anuses

If NBER can define a recession to mean whatever the hell they want, then I can also use words to mean whatever the hell I want. Remember that this is the same group that finally admitted in December 1992 that the recession had ended...in March 1991. They deliberately waited until after the election so Bubba could win on a "bad economy" platform, when the truth was that the economy was already recovering.

There haven't been the two consecutive quarters of decreased GDP (the traditional definition of recession), but we might find out that the 4th quarter will fulfill that. NBER can't risk that, though. They need a recession under a Republican president, so that an incoming Democrat can take credit for "fixing the economy." So they're just changing the rules to fit their agenda.