Dr. Mike Walden, North Carolina Cooperative Extension economist in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at N.C. State University, responds:

"We describe these possible rebounds all by letters. The best possible scenario is to have a 'V'-shaped rebound. That means that you have a very quick, sharp and strong rebound from the recession, going up the right hand side of the V. Second best would be a 'U'-shaped rebound. You do come out of the recession and you do eventually come out of it stronger, but it takes a while to really build up momentum. So you're going up that right side a little slower . . . up the right side of the U. The worst of all cases would be an 'L'-shaped rebound. That means that you do stop declining, but your growth is very anemic. You're going right on that lower part of the L, if you will. It's almost like you're moving sideways. This is the kind of rebound that Japan had during the 1990s from the early 1990s recession. Economists right now are debating what kind of rebound we'll have. Probably the most money is placed on a U-shaped form of economic rebound."