The R Word

American CEOs are warning that a recession may be coming:

So far this year, the number of companies whose executives have mentioned recession concerns to analysts and investors is up 33 percent from the same period a year ago; the first such increase since 2009. Some 92 companies have discussed a U.S. recession in their earnings calls, according to Thomson Reuters data.

That gloomy talk highlights worries that growth in the world’s largest economy may be coming to a halt. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent in the final quarter of 2015, down from 2 percent in the third quarter, while double the number of companies are cutting or flat-lining their capital spending in the year ahead, according to Reuters data.

Look, a recession can — and usually does — happen on any President’s watch. The difference this time is that the recovery has been so feeble that there are no interest rates to cut, no quantities left uneased, and a longterm unemployment problem nearly a decade old already.