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Great Recession Causes and Effects

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In 2008, the U.S. Economy experienced a drop in the stock market so fast and unexpected that it has been called the “Great Recession” (Santucci, 2011) and the “Crash of 2008” (Crash of 2008, 2010). Many things contributed to the recession, but the main cause was sub-prime lending by banks. Basically banks were lending money to people to buy homes that they couldn't afford. Due to the sub-prime mortgages going belly-up, along with the spiraling effects of bank failures such as the automotive industry needing to borrow billions of dollars, the U.S. Economy experienced is worst economic situations since the Great Depression. The causes of the recession date back many years, and as far back as 1980. This is when bank deregulation begins (Crash of 2008, 2010), which means less qualifications are needed to give out a loan. This recession could have been foreseen by some since in 1987, there was a stock market crash that occurred after the banking deregulation began (Crash of 2008, 2010). As we get closer to the Crash of 2008, we find that there are more and more subtle signs. One of the biggest early signs was in 2001 when the annual issue of US mortgage backed bonds increased from $500- $2,000 billion (Crash of 2008, 2010). Also, with the U.S. Backing more bonds at such a high rate and causing the interest rates at an all time low, from 2001 to the third quarter in 2006, the average house value was raised by 80% (Crash of 2008, 2010). After this time, the housing market experienced a slight drop in the gains that they had been experiencing. Then the big signs started to show up that the housing market was in trouble, and in turn would lead to the financial crisis that we are in. According to (Crash of 2008, 2010) this is considered Stage 1 of “The Crash.” The first major sign was in June 2007 when Standard and Poor and Moody's investor services downgraded over 100

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