The attacks guarantee contraction, forecasters say, leading to an outright recession if the downturn continues through Christmas.

The lower spending, in turn, would substantially reduce output and employment in the economy, running the risk of outright recession.

"It might feel like a recession in some places," he said, "but I don't see an outright recession here or in Europe."

Still, with increasingly common forecasts of a slowdown in economic growth, if not outright recession, the topic was on the minds of attendees at the conference.

"This suggests that the prospect of an outright recession is limited."

"Following the terrorist attack we would expect an even weaker outlook, and the possibility the economy will fall into an outright recession has grown substantially."

"In an outright recession, many more people feel the pain of unemployment and falling incomes."

"The possibility the economy will fall into an outright recession has grown substantially."

Growth has slowed down considerably, to the point of turning into an outright recession this year.

The decrease in investment spending slowed the economy, but the strength of consumer spending had, until recently, kept us from slipping into an outright recession.