Is anyone else tired of the endless gloom-laden news stories and speculation about the dreaded R-word? Most people have known that a recession of-sorts has been on its way for months, but now the news is filled with the latest minister or analyst who has the guts to come out and say, "Yes, It's a recession." One fund manager I spoke to recently said that things will only start to get better once governments and regulators actually admit the scale of the crisis we're in. That is certainly now happening, but recession discussions continue as the share indexes plummet and jobs get axed everywhere.

In its infinite wisdom, the BBC has this week unveiled a sharp new Downturn logo on its website. It's good to see that while Goldmans and other city firms lay off shed-loads of workers, the graphic designers and marketeers are still in high demand. But credit where it's due, the BBC has done a terrific job of covering the markets over the last 18 months and ensuring that what goes on in the board rooms of collapsing Wall Street banks is actually understood in the living rooms of deepest Scotland and Wales. The Beeb's colorful business editor Robert Peston has become something of a credit crunch icon, booming into the British public's homes and offices with his melodramatic, but clear, analyses of the market news.

But the BBC's downturn logo is a sign of the depths to which this crisis has sunk. The terminoology has gone through many guises since the trouble began - sub-prime mortgage meltdown, credit crunch, global economic downturn - and now, finally, it's recession folks. But even now there is wrangling over whether it is really a recession or not and whether the true definition of a recession - which differs depending on the side of the Atlantic on which you sit - has yet been reached.

I don't think there's any doubt that the global economy is in trouble. If Recession is the last word that will be used to 'brand' this crisis, perhaps it will soon be time for the markets to start working their way back.