Harvard economist Martin Feldstein says the economic expansion that began when the recession officially ended in 2009 is as bad as he’s ever seen.

Many economists have said the economy is stuck in an extended downturn as opposed to recovering from a recession. Traditionally, recessions are followed by marked recoveries, but that hasn’t been the case today.

“I’m not quite sure what a depression is,” Feldstein tells the Wall Street Journal.

Either the economy is turning down, in which case you’re receding, you’re in a recession, or the economy has reached bottom and is starting up, and then you’re in an expansion,” said Feldstein, a former White House chief economist under Ronald Reagan.

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