Economists use the real economic growth rate to measure how quickly a country's economy is growing. ... Developed Economy: Definition, How It Works, HDI Indicator. Who Was Lawrence Klein?

In sum, these projections show one clear economic risk — stagflation — where economic growth stalls out and inflation remains well above the Fed's 2% target.

But while the US economy appears to be slowing, corporate earnings are still growing, which should help put a floor under stock prices, and could even supply them with more fuel to rise further.

"There's no one agreed-upon definition of a recession, but the most commonly used metric is two back-to-back periods of negative economic growth," said CBS MoneyWatch correspondent Kelly O'Grady.

For all the trepidation about world trade, debt and inflation, it could well be worker shortages that define economic trends this year - on both sides of the Atlantic.

In sum, these projections show one clear economic risk — stagflation — where economic growth stalls out and inflation remains well above the Fed's 2% target.