Look to carry on in recession (4)
I believe the answer is:
peek
'look' is the definition.
(peek can mean to look at quickly)
'carry on in recession' is the wordplay.
'carry on' becomes 'keep'.
'in recession' says the letters should be written backwards (letters recede or go back).
'keep' back-to-front is 'PEEK'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for peek that I've seen before include "Sly look, peep" , "Secret look" , "Furtive glance" , "spy" , "Glimpse" .)