Recession fears are growing

Recession fears are growing

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Expectations for the weakest consumer spending performance in 17 years during 2008 kept the odds of a recession at nearly 40 percent, a survey of top forecasters showed on Thursday.

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Fears of recession? A number of brokers in my area believe we're already in a recession and the next step is a depression. Definition of Recession;
"recession |riˈse sh ən|
noun
a period of temporary economic decline during which trade and industrial activity are reduced, generally identified by a fall in GDP in two successive quarters."

Definition of depression;
"an economic depression recession, slump, decline, downturn, standstill; stagnation; the Great Depression; Economics stagflation."

I don't see a great difference in the two. Can anyone explain the difference in easy to understand terms? How many quarters do we have to see a fall in the GDP before they call it a depression?

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