The word cycle suggests a regular, recurring pattern of activity. Is there a regular pattern to the business cycle? Support your answer by examining the duration (number of months) of each expansion and contraction in Figure 1.

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Peaks April 1960 14,000 Troughs 13,500 February 1961 13,000 December 1969 November 1970 12,500 November 1973 March 1975 12,000 January 1980 July 1980 11,500 July 1981 November 1982 11,000 July 1990 10,500 March 1991 10,000 March 2001 November 2001 December 2007 June 2009 Real GDP (billions of dollars) 9,500 9,000 8,500 8,000 7,500 7,000 6,500 6,000 5,500 5,000 4,500 4,000 3,500 3,000 2,500 2,000 0 ===== 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Year