The world is out of recession. I am not saying this because any economist told me this. I don't trust them. Economist were the ones who led the world into a huge debt trap that turned lives upside down.

So what's the source of my information? Journalists, or more specifically news reporters. OK, some of you may question the authority of journalists in making such decisive statements on the economies of the country and the world. How do they know it?

Reporters know it because they were the ones whose lives were drastically affected by the recession. A sudden decline in the job market and a few firings in so-called organizational restructuring were due to the impact of the recession. But these two were not the most important impacts of the downturn; they did hurt journalists but only a few of them. The most severe impact of the recession was on the free gifts and lunches that reporters were offered in lieu of covering some event or company news.
Before the recession hit the world, reporters were liberally offered high tea, lunches and dinner (of course, along with copious amount of liquor). Gifts such as leather bags and nice pen sets were given so often that they were no longer included in freebies; they had become part of necessary etiquette. Some deep-pocketed companies would offer expensive gifts such as electronic appliances, cellphones and laptops. Offers for foreign tours (or junkets, as they are called in industry parlance) came too often that media houses sometimes failed to find someone who could use them as free holiday package. Companies often forgot to collect back laptops and other gadgets sent for review to media houses and their reporters. Life was good.

And then came the recession monster. Companies became conscious of their expenditures. When they started exploring options for reducing costs, the poor reporters were the ones who had to make do with limited freebies. First, gift packets started shrinking along with the menu for lunches. After some time, reporters had to starve because there were no free lunches during coverages. The designer gift boxes containing watches had become a thing of past that reporters fondly remembered as "those good ol days". This was the peak of recession.

Now the reporters are breathing a sigh of relief as recession has finally tapered off. Free lunches are again in vogue. Gift boxes are regaining their old dimensions and companies are no longer stingy on venue for press conferences. Five-star luxury is back for reporters. Though it will take some more time for the after-effect of recession to vanish, the worst is over. The world is no longer gripped in recession and life is returning to normalcy for reporters. That's why they can say—the recession is over, finally.