Well, I guess we're here:

The U.S. economy has sunk into a recession and government action is critical to stem the damage, according to economists in the latest Wall Street Journal forecasting survey and reported on finance.yahoo.com

"We're in the middle of a very dark tunnel," said Brian Fabbri of BNP Paribas, referring to the worsening credit crunch. "Each day we see another crack in the system."

Those cracks are quickly adding up. On average, the 52 economists surveyed now expect gross domestic product to contract in the third and fourth quarters of this year, as well as the first quarter of 2009.

This is the first time that survey forecasts for those periods have turned negative. If those predictions bear out, it would mark the first time U.S. GDP--the total value of goods and services produced--has contracted for three consecutive quarters in more than a half century. Economists put the odds of recession in the next 12 months at 89%, up from 60% in last month's survey.