Whats the difference?

Recession? Depression? What's the difference?

A recession is when your neighbor loses his job.

A depression is when you lose your job.(about)

Although the above is a pretty funny it still doesn't clarify for me, what the difference between a recession and a depression is. A recession is said to be a decline in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for two or more consecutive quarters, if your anything like me than that means absolutely nothing. So more simply a recession is a widespread decline in the GDP and employment and trade lasting from six months to a year. A depression is a severe economic downturn that lasts several years. With that being said, my real question is will this economic crisis be a brief recession, or is it in fact the beginning of a depression?

Who or What is to blame for this so called "recession" anyway? I guess the reason why no one is asking that is because its better to try and fix it rather than pointing the finger. However, I just would like to know, where did the economy go wrong exactly? Can we blame it on the Bush administration, the war, or the companies that are going over seas? I myself don't know who to blame it on, but the more I think about blaming is becoming less and less important. We need a plan, a plan to fix it. So my newly apposed question is, Will the Obama administration, with the help of supporting Americans, have what it takes to prevent a depression? What do you think. . .