The Great American Recession resulted in the loss of eight million jobs between 2007 and 2009. More than four million homes were lost to foreclosures. Is it a coincidence that the United States witnessed a dramatic rise in household debt in the years before the recession—that the total amount of debt for American households doubled between 2000 and 2007 to $14 trillion? Definitely not. Armed with clear and powerful evidence, Atif Mian and Amir Sufi reveal in House of Debt how the Great Recession and Great Depression, as well as the current economic malaise in Europe, were caused by a large run-up in household debt followed by a significantly large drop in household spending. Though the banking crisis captured the public’s attention, Mian and Sufi argue strongly with actual data that current policy is too heavily biased toward protecting banks and creditors. Increasing the flow of credit, they show, is disastrously counterproductive when the fundamental problem is too much debt. As their research shows, excessive household debt leads to foreclosures, causing individuals to spend less and save more. Less spending means less demand for goods, followed by declines in production and huge job losses. How do we end such a cycle? With a direct attack on debt, say Mian and Sufi. More aggressive debt forgiveness after the crash helps, but as they illustrate, we can be rid of painful bubble-and-bust episodes only if the financial system moves away from its reliance on inflexible debt contracts. As an example, they propose new mortgage contracts that are built on the principle of risk-sharing, a concept that would have prevented the housing bubble from emerging in the first place. Thoroughly grounded in compelling economic evidence, House of Debt offers convincing answers to some of the most important questions facing the modern economy today: Why do severe recessions happen? Could we have prevented the Great Recession and its consequences? And what actions are needed to prevent such crises going forward?
Here, experts assess the role of central banks in responding to the recent financial crisis and in preventing future crises. The contributors focus on monetary policy, the new area of macroprudential policy, and issues of exchange rates, capital flows, and banking and financial markets.
The truth behind the causes and effects of America's economic downturn. The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the Financial Crisis explains the root causes and connects the events and issues with the problems that have confronted Americans over the course of more than a year, giving readers an unvarnished, unbiased, and in-depth analysis of the factors that lead up to the crisis, the major events that defined it, and the decisions and ramifications that resulted from it. ?Interest in the financial crisis continues to build with several high- profile books and an HBO movie due out in 2010, as well as the success of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story ?Much of the financial crisis writing to date has been of the breaking news variety - this book will be one of the first books published after the smoke has cleared to offer a comprehensive analysis of what happened and how
The book provides one of the most detailed and comprehensive reviews of the growth experience of a group of low and middle income countries before and during the global crisis. It then explores their growth prospects after the recovery and how they may be shaped by the new global economic environment.
The Great Recession and its aftershocks, including the Eurozone banking and debt crisis, add up to the worst global economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s. Although economic explanations for the Great Recession have proliferated, the political causes and consequences of the crisis have received less systematic attention. Politics in the New Hard Times is the first book to focus on the Great Recession as a political crisis, one with both political sources and political consequences. The authors examine variation in crises over time and across countries, rather than treating these events as undifferentiated shocks. Chapters also explore how crisis has forced the redefinition and reinforcement of interests at the level of individual attitudes and in national political coalitions. Throughout, the authors stress that the Great Recession is only the latest in a long history of international economic crises with significant political effects—and that it is unlikely to be the last.
Written by one of the foremost experts on the business cycle, this is a compelling and engaging explanation of how and why the economic downturn of 2007 became the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009. Author Howard Sherman explores the root causes of the cycle of boom and bust of the economy, focusing on the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession of 2008-2009. He makes a powerful argument that recessions and the resulting painful involuntary unemployment are inherent in capitalism itself. Sherman clearly illustrates the mechanisms of business cycles, and he provides a thoughtful alternative that would rein in their destructive effects.
Deals with the 2008 financial crisis and the recession. This book takes the real economy as the starting point and situates the downturn within the societal context over the last several decades.
The truth behind the causes and effects of America's economic downturn. The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the Financial Crisis explains the root causes and connects the events and issues with the problems that have confronted Americans over the course of more than a year, giving readers an unvarnished, unbiased, and in-depth analysis of the factors that lead up to the crisis, the major events that defined it, and the decisions and ramifications that resulted from it. ?Interest in the financial crisis continues to build with several high- profile books and an HBO movie due out in 2010, as well as the success of Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story ?Much of the financial crisis writing to date has been of the breaking news variety - this book will be one of the first books published after the smoke has cleared to offer a comprehensive analysis of what happened and how
The contributors in this book use administrative data from six states from before, during, and after the Great Recession to gauge the degree to which Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance (UI) interacted. They also recommend ways that the program policies could be altered to better serve those suffering hardship as a result of future economic downturns.
This book sheds light on the impact of the Great Recession from the perspective of both developing and developed countries. It traces the complex and multiple causes of the Great Recession, delineates the diversity in the macroeconomic and labour market consequences, and highlights the effectiveness of policy responses undertaken so far.
