There is nothing that cripples business investment like a recession. From the beginning of 1974 to the third quarter of 1975, while unemployment rose from 5.2 percent to between 8.5 and 9 percent, real nonresidential business fixed investments fell 17.5 percent. While gross national product in constant dollars declined 6.6 percent from the fourth quarter of 1973 to the first quarter of 1975, the total of fixed investment, including residential as well as nonresidential structures, dropped 23.6 percent from the first quarter of 1973 to the second quarter of 1975.