The meteoric rise of the U.S. stock market over the past two years has come to an abrupt end.

A steep downturn recently has led to what’s known as a bear market. But what does that mean, and why might policymakers have to hurt the economy to help it in the long term?

Guest: Jim Tankersley, a White House correspondent for The New York Times, with a focus on economic policy.

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Background reading: 

• Steep downturns of stocks by 20 percent or more are relatively rare, but how long they last could portend damage.
• The last such drop happened in early 2020 as the coronavirus spread. Here’s what else to know about bear markets.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 

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