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Bursting of the Dot.com, or Technology Bubble
The internet was in style. Many people were investing huge amount of money into them and making a lot of money from it. In April 2000 an inflation report caused the speculative bubble to burst and there was huge investment loses. -
Enron
Enron, one of the top energy countries at the time hid billions of dollars in debt from its shareholders. Shareholders lost 60 billion dollars. This led to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. -
September 11 Terrorist Attacks
Only the New York Stock Exchange shut down. There were over 60 billion dollars in insurance loss. 18,000 small businesses shut down and the Department of Homeland Security was created. -
Stock Market Crash
The stock market reached lows not seen since 1997 and 1998. -
War on Terror and Iraq War
These wars are a incredible financial drain on our economy. 944 billion dollars was approved for operations overseas. -
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
More than 200 billion dollars was done in damage between the two. 400,000 jobs were lost and 275,000 homes were lost. -
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Sub-Prime Housing Crisis and the Housing Bubble
The U.S. housing market was booming. Basically anyone who wanted to buy a house could by one. Banks made mortgage loans with inflated values. Soon the interest rates went up and families couldn't pay them. The "credit crunch" ensued. -
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The Global Recession and the Collapse of Wall Street
September of 2008 the deepest economic downturn in not only the U.S. but the world, since the Great Depression. It was due to the sup-prime mortgage crisis and serious corporate fraud. -
Bernard Madoff and the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in History
Bernard Mandoff took the money of his clients investments and used it to pay his investors. He defrauded his investors of around 18 billion dollars. -
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The Federal Reserve buys 1.2 trillion dollars of government bonds and mortgage-related securities.