U.S. recession made official

December 01, 2008 The National Bureau of Economic Research, the country's business cycle arbiter, surprised investors by declaring that not only has the U.S. economy lapsed into recession but that it began a year ago and the downturn could be the worst since World War II. Meanwhile, Redstone on Monday fired the opening salvo in his war on debt, selling his stake in video game maker Midway Games for only $100,000 plus the assumption of debt. With the clock ticking down to a Dec. 19 deadline to repay or restructure a big pile of debt at his holding company National Amusements, the Redstone family's team of advisers is expected to focus next on a partial or complete sale of the movie theater chain of the same name and of a stake in slot machine firm WMS Industries, the former owner of Midway.

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