Between January 2008 and February 2010, employment fell by 8.8 million, the largest decline in American history. The 2008 Recession, which officially lasted from December 2007 to June 2009, began with the bursting of an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble. Job losses during the recession meant that family incomes dropped, poverty rose, and people all over the country were suffering. Things like this don’t just happen. Policy changes incorporated with the economy are often a major factor. In this case, all roads lead to one major problem: Deregulation. Deregulation originating from the Carter and Regan Administrations, combined with a decrease in consumer spending, and the subprime mortgage bubble all led up to the major recession of 2008.
In December of 2007, the United States entered a recession that was ignited by the global financial crisis. A recession is a period of decline in economic activity. The Great Recession, as Americans referred to the recession of 2007, was the longest recession since the Great Depression (Homan & Matthews , 2008). With inflation occurring and the housing market in shambles, Americans struggled to live during this horrific period in U.S. history. Millions of Americans are out of work, and U.S. companies are hesitant to hire employees. Lawmakers change financial policies to provide recovery to the country. The financial bailout is used to aid banks and states to build infrastructure. The Federal Reserve is printing money at an all-time high that affects the value of the dollar. To cope, many people turn to welfare for government assistance. People who do not rely on unemployment benefit or government assistance must find a job to survive. When looking for a job, a person must be deemed as a qualified candidate and meet the requirements of the job. HR professionals are responsible for the recruiting and selection process of an organization. If a recession is occurring, however, the recruiting and selecting is under more scrutiny, and companies are willing to discriminate to obtain employees in a down economy. In a recession, organizations use discriminatory practices with a person’s race, gender, and age despite equal opportunity laws in the United States.
However prior to 2008, nearly everyone was blind to their impending doom; investors, bankers, government regulators, the general population, and even the chairman of the Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan, a man who was considered the economic guru, was fooled into believing the prosperity America had been enjoying would last for the foreseeable future (“Rethinking” 20). By this time there had been only mild economic downturns or, at most, short periods of turmoil. Financial institutions and large corporations had grown accustomed to the decades of economic prosperity resulting from the post-war economic boom, long forgetting the lessons learned from the Great Depression (“Rethinking” 20). In fact, economists concluded that America had entered a new era of calm. After a generation of portfolio managers and investors profiting from decades of favorable returns on stocks they believed the modern economy was impervious to major calamities (“Rethinking” 20). As inflation rates fell from record highs in the late 1970s and early 1980s to the record lows that they are today, interest rates followed enabling Americans to borrow more money from
The years between 1929-1933 represented the most severe downturn in economic affairs in modern world history. Output declined at a markedly fast rate during this period and has been referred to as the “Great Contraction” and the “gloomy years”. Life was certainly gloomy, in the United States during these years. The downward spiral of the price level and shockingly high unemployment rate were unrelenting. The yearly intervals of 1929-1930, 1930-1931, 1931-1932, and 1932-1933 saw real income decline by 11 percent, 9 percent, 18 percent, and 3 percent respectively, or in totally of the four years by 36 percent. This depression was the first true test of the United States’ lender of last resort and central bank, the Federal Reserve System. Friedman and Schwartz place great blame on the Federal Reserve System for not stopping or at least mitigating the collapse of the monetary system.
When we hear the word recession we automatically think about money. Poverty levels start to escalate with the rise of unemployment. “Support for families in poverty in the United States are at the intersection of three related sets of programs, child welfare, and early education programs, and means-tested income assistance programs,” (“Poverty and Welfare.”) With unemployment comes loss of income to families, which the...
...s and the Financial Crisis” Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce, Austin, Texas, 1 December 2008. The Wall Street Journal. http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2008/12/01/bernankes-remarks-on-fed-policies-and-the-economy.
According to the article on “Economic Recession” from Issues and Controversies, a panel of economists determined that the U.S. was in a recession from December 2007 to June 2009, making it the longest ...
Over the years, the Federal Reserve has grown and evolved significantly. And while it has been useful in promoting growth, employment, and regulation of financial intermediaries, it can’t stop financial crisis all together. The Federal Reserve didn’t prevent the Great Depression, or the financial panic in 2008. “…Opposition to a central bank, rooted as deeply as it was in the American psyche, didn’t go away. Instead, it evolved” (Irwin 2013). While the Federal Reserve is a scapegoat for blame in these times, it has to do it’s best to evolve and make the best out of these situations. Just as the past central banks did, The Federal Reserve continues to evolve every day with the ever complex and growing economy.
"The Great Recession." State of Working America. Economic Policy Institute, n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. .
The article about Recession was the cover story of the December9th issue and was titled, Gloomy Holidays and worst ahead. This article begins by listing the problems Americans are facing along with the double-digit recession. The...
Since being founded, America became a capitalist society. Being a capitalist society obtains luxurious benefits and rather harsh consequences if gone bad. In a capitalist society people must buy products and spend money to keep the economy balanced, but once those people stop spending money, the economy goes off balance and the nation enters a recession. Once a recession drastically takes a downturn, the nation enters what is known as a depression. In 2008 America entered a recession and its consequences were severe enough for some people, such as President Barack Obama, to compare the recent crisis to the world’s darkest economic depression in history, the Great Depression. Although the Great Depression and the Great Recession of 2008 hold similarities and differences between the stock market and government spending, political issues, lifestyle changes, and wealth distribution, the Great Depression proved far more detrimental consequences than the Recession.
What caused the Great Recession that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 in the United States? The United States a country with abundance of resources from jobs, education, money and power went from one day of economic balance to the next suffering major dimensions crisis. According to the Economic Policy Institute, it all began in 2007 from the credit crisis, which resulted in an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble (n.d.). This said by Economist analysts to attributed to the collapse in the United States. Even today, strong debates continue over major issues caused by the Great Recession in part over the accommodative federal monetary and fiscal policy (Economic Policy Institute, 2013). The Great Recession of 2007 – 2009 enlarges the longest financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929 – 1932 that damaged the economy.