Several interesting facts are apparent from the figure. And the 1882-1885 recession lasted nearly as long as the Great Depression. Some lasting images of American history survive from this period, including the great debate over silver coinage. Third, it is not just that recessions have been shorter on average in the post-World War II era, they have all been much shorter. Figure 2 shows the duration of economic expansions since 1854.
Darker bars mark wartime expansions.
Based on duration, the changing nature of expansions is not quite as evident as for contractions. But of the 21 expansions prior to World War II, only three lasted more than three years. In contrast, of the 10 expansions since, only three have lasted less than three years. A simple comparison of the duration of expansions and contractions does suggest the U.S. economy has performed better in the post-World War II era. Recessions are shorter, expansions are longer.