Is This a Recession?

OK, here's the blue economy scenario for 2008. Housing prices keep falling. Credit stays tight. Consumers choke. In retailing, restaurants, travel and more, jobs vanish. In real estate, construction and banking, investment seizes up. Money retreats. Growth is gone. And we've got a recession on our hands.

For months, economists have debated whether it's here already. "Slow motion train wreck," is a phrase that sticks. Now, Goldman Sachs says we're going down, and even the president is talking "challenges."

This hour, On Point: talking recession — who gets hurt and how we get out.Guests:

Greg Ip, chief economic correspondent for The Wall Street Journal and lead writer for the blog "Real Time Economics."

Robert Gordon, professor of economics and social sciences at Northwestern University and a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Allen Sinai, chief global economist, strategist, and president of Decision Economics, Inc.

Steve Liesman, senior economics reporter at CNBC.