The Downfall of the U.S. Auto Market and the Collapse of the Economy

In the hyper competitive world of today’s mega corporations controlled by the sway of the stock market, giant old industrial era companies rule over the automobile market in the United States as well as large parts of the global automobile market. Companies such as General Motors, Chrysler, and Ford were at the center of it until the economic crisis now known as the Great Recession of the late 2000s. The whole market was declining in sales with General Motors and Chrysler taking the biggest hits while Ford only suffered decline comparable to foreign automakers’, Honda and Toyota, levels due to restructuring in prior years. However, the tipping point was edging closer to bankruptcy with General Motors and Chrysler that ultimately

General Motors (GM) was one of the premier automakers of the world. Firmly planted as the leader of the big three automakers, GM, Ford, and Chrysler, years of success grounded GM as an economic and cultural icon of American business. As the Japanese auto market grew and became more efficient, turning out improved vehicles that the public wanted, GM was becoming a lumbering behemoth of inefficiency and corporate gluttony. Many circumstances contribute to GM’s road to bankruptcy including high legacy costs in union owned contracts, largely poor design, inferior quality, and low productivity.

The Great Recession of 2008-9 was the deepest and longest capitalist economic slump since the Great Depression of 1929-32. The recent financial crisis is known as the “Great Recession” of 2008-9. Its downturn was sparked by the collapse of the US housing market. In 2006, the prices of home began to rise and the banks began to encourage potential homebuyers to take out larger loans. There were lower interest rates at the time, and this seemed like a good idea for most individuals who were searching for a new home. Then, in mid-2007, the interest rates began to rise. The values of the homes decreased and the amount of money a house was worth declined significantly. Many homeowners were stuck with large loans, increasingly high interest rates, and a decreased price of their home. Many homeowners went into foreclosure or were evicted. This eventually led to large financial institutions and banks to become bankrupt, which lead to an overall fall in the US economy. Stocks dropped, consumer spending declined significantly, and companies began to go out of business (Athanasiu, 43).

Did you know that by the end of the year 2009 the unemployment rate had increased from its average 5% to an astounding 10%? This is because 15.3 million people became unemployed as a result of the economic recession. No shocker, but poverty rate had also increased from 13.2% in 2008 to 14.3% in 2009. This meant that the number of people living in poverty in the United States had increased from 39.8 million to 43.6 million. This great increase had all happened in the span of 1 year. Something that should have taken over 10 years only took 1 year and this is all because of the Great US recession. Also the US suicide rate had reached its highest record since 25 years between the years 2008-09.

Several factors have affected how the American auto industry now positions itself on the world market, and big changes have been made to reflect this new direction. The introduction of new technologies in vehicles, the growing market for cars in new developing markets, the impact of the industry on the environment, legislative responses and demands, as well as the increased expectations from consumers, are some of the factors. More international cars are being designed, manufactured and bought by American consumers and exported to foreign markets today than those exclusively manufactured by American companies, redefining the American auto industry, while having a positive impact on its economy. International brands accounted for 45% of total sales in the U.S. in 2013 and have now risen to 59% of the market, and continue to grow. While the amount of American cars has decreased in the local U.S. market share to international ones, the increase of foreign car production on U.S. soil has had the effect of creating new jobs for Americans both in the auto industry as well as in related new industries. The industry has seen huge growth numbers in the last few years with more growth expected.

Black Tuesday, a day when 16 million stock shares were traded leaving America in severe economic depression, the only solution was World War II. The twentieth century consisted of stocks that represented a capital and which a corporation claimed a state. The owners shared stocks. August 29 of 1929, the biggest stock trade of New York crashed. Even though the stock market was predicament and it lasted more than a decade, the United States slowly gained confidence in the system again.

In the latter part of 2008, the United States’ economy was rapidly plummeting - the stock market crashed, the housing bubble burst and gas prices skyrocketed. The majority of U.S. based firms faced the reality that they would not be able to survive during such desperate economic times. The U.S. automobile industry, in particular, began to buckle under the depressed economy. The government stepped in proposing a multi-billion dollar bailout to stimulate the economy and restore economic balance. The possibility of this unprecedented government intervention was condemned by many economists. If the government helped the ailing automotive industry, this industry would have to tighten their expenditures and plan for the future to prove to

The stock market is what one would know as a collective group of buyers/sellers that trade stocks, also known as shares on a stock exchange. These securities are listed on the exchange itself and trade freely each and every day. On the exchange, stocks move hands day in and day out. Companies are able to get their stock listed on the exchange at any time that they want. There are other stocks, too...known as OTC stocks or over the counter stocks that go through a specific dealer. Larger companies tend to have their stocks listed on exchanges all throughout the world. Participants in the market can be anyone from your grandma, to retail investors, day traders, institutional investors, and so forth. One notable exchange is the NYSE; also known as The New York Stock Exchange. Moving forward, a stock market crash is when a decline of stock prices takes place throughout the stock market that results in a catastrophic loss of wealth via paper. The crashes are driven strictly by panic 9 times out of 10 a crash takes place. As a crash is happening, panic occurs; the panic keeps evolving and ends up like the snowball effect before you know it. A crash occurs when economic events take place. These events are always bad news... The behavior of traders follows, which leads to a crash when panic ensues. Crashes normally occur of a seven day period and may extend even further. Crashes happen in bear markets as the market is already weak to begin with. Once traders see a drop in prices,

Over a decade into the War on Terror, the U.S. has largely succeeded in its attempts to destabilize Al-Qaeda and eliminate its leaders. In the writing Manhunt by Jonathan H. Cody, he states that these accomplishments didn’t come without a price; in fact the cost was enormous, and our nations decisions on how to finance it have profoundly damaged the U.S. economy. The US economic crisis can all be traced back to 9/11. In Catherine New’s article Then and Now she compared the US economy today to the economy in 2001 before the attacks. The results are astonishing; the average price of gas per gallon has increased by over $2, the median sales price per house has increased by over $50,000, the poverty rate has increased by 3%, the unemployment rate has increased by 4%, and the public debt has increased by trillions of dollars (New)! These facts show how devastating the attack was and the extent at which it changed the US. Since 9/11 we have ramped up our national investments, concerns, and spendings. The 9/11 attacks had both immediate and long-term economic impacts, most of which continue to this day. The stock market closed for four trading days after the attacks, which was the first time this has happened since the Great Depression! The attacks caused the Dow to drop more than 600 points, the 2001 recession to deepen, and according to Asad AbuKhalil’s book Bin Laden, Islam, and America 's New "war on Terrorism” also led to one of the biggest government spending programs in U.S.

I have always personally thought that the cause of most financial crises is created by the governments and high executive. Most people do not know that white collar crimes occur every single day, but they are not exposed to the news because this type of crimes is not as important as any other crime such as a murder, robbery, and so on. However, the public gets rob on daily basics and the government allows it. This is the reason why only a few people got convicted during the 1990’s and 2008 crises. My best example of government victimization is by taking a look at the economy of countries like Venezuela, Cuba, and many others. In these countries, the economy is extremely bad for regular people; contrary to the people that hold a position

25 billion dollars lost in 1 day, roughly 25% of the nations population was without a job, and the suicide rate skyrocketed. These are just a few factors that turned the Stock Market Crash of 1929 into the Great Depression, one of the longest and worst economic downturns of that time, according to History.com. 16 million shares were lost at the New York Stock Exchange, eliminating thousands of investors on October 29th, 1929. The Stock Market Crash impacted the United States by putting Millions of people out of jobs, and putting America in one of the deepest financial and economical holes of that time. Today, Americans are still worried it could happen again, which is causing some people to not trust banks, or

The economic crash of 2008 was a difficult time for all of the people around us. This situation has impacted our country and what is around even to this day. It was a tough time for a lot of families and big businesses. This stock market crash was one of the worst the United States had ever had. Even to this day we are still trying to repair it what went down. Like the employment of jobs, the cost of our products, and homes that were taken away from families. The economic crash came from nowhere and it was a shock fro mainly families, especially the middle and low income families. This took many homes away from them and the job eventually leaving them with nothing. This had also hurt many foreign countries on their way, did trade and their investments. Many housing companies going down with this and also the way banks were running. Why and how did this all happen? This is one of the biggest economic crash in the United States that is still in the process of being repaired.

The financial collapse of the U.S. economy that occurred in 2008 created a foreclosure crisis that resulted in thousands of homeowners losing their properties nationwide. This great recession caused many homeowners to even lose their jobs, savings, and credit worthiness. Predatory lending was a major contributing factor in these foreclosures.

The United States was coming out of the most severe economic turmoil of its history at the time World War II began in 1939. The federal government was already in debt to the tune of around 40 billion dollars, more than doubling in since 1930, largely due to federal spending in attempts to ease the economic crisis of the great depression. Americans were in no way ready, willing or financially capable of supporting another war against the Germans. The ideals of the average American at the time, much like during the beginning of World War I, was one of strict neutrality.

The Great Recession, coinciding with the subprime mortgage crisis, lasted from the end of 2007 to the middle of 2009. This downturn became the biggest economic crisis that the United States had faced since the Great Depression. Causing high unemployment rates, a decline in consumer confidence and home values, the recession had a great impact on both Americans and immigrants in the United States. Since the 1990s to a few years before the recession, the number of immigrants entering the United States increased at a constant rate as more and more people came to the country in search for better job and education opportunities. This number dropped, however, when the country entered the economic crisis in 2007. The American Community Survey