The Economic Stimulus Act Of 2008

The mortgage crisis of 2007 marked catastrophe for millions of homeowners who suffered from foreclosure and short sales. Most of the problems involving the foreclosing of families’ homes could boil down to risky borrowing and lending. Lenders were pushed to ensure families would be eligible for a loan, when in previous years the same families would have been deemed too high-risk to obtain any kind of loan. With the increase in high-risk families obtaining loans, there was a huge increase in home buyers and subsequently a rapid increase in home prices. As a result, prices peaked and then began falling just as fast as they rose. Soon after families began to default on their mortgages forcing them either into foreclosure or short sales. Who was to blame for the risky lending and borrowing that caused the mortgage meltdown? Many might blame the company Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but in reality the entire system of buying and selling and free market failed home owners and the housing economy.

During the early 2000 's, the United States housing market experienced growth at an unprecedented rate, leading to historical highs in home ownership. This surge in home buying was the result of multiple illusory financial circumstances which reduced the apparent risk of both lending and receiving loans. However, in 2007, when the upward trend in home values could no longer continue and began to reverse itself, homeowners found themselves owing more than the value of their properties, a trend which lent itself to increased defaults and foreclosures, further reducing the value of homes in a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle. The 2008 crash of the near-$7-billion housing industry dragged down the entire U.S. economy, and by extension, the global economy, with it, therefore having a large part in triggering the global recession of 2008-2012.

The Great Recession of 2007-2009 was one of the most economically disastrous events in American history. The housing market took a significant downturn during this period. People were not cautious when it came to their money and loans. Larger loans were given out to people, even to those with bad credit and low incomes. These large loans caused many homes to go through foreclosure since people were unable to pay off their mortgage debts. These debts were created by banks increasing the interest rates on the loans significantly in a short period. In 2008, foreclosures were up by eighty-two percent. This increase is significant because the previous percentage of foreclosures was at fifty-one percent from 2007. Unemployment skyrocketed, and people

Our economy is a machine that is ran by humans. A machine can only be as good as the person who makes it. This makes our economy susceptible to human error. A couple years ago the United States faced one of the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression, which was the Great Recession. The Great Recession was a severe economic downturn that occurred in 2008 following the burst of the housing market. The government tried passing bills to see if anything would help it from becoming another Great Depression. Trying to aid the government was the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve went through a couple strategies in order to help the economy recover. The Federal Reserve provided three major strategies to start moving the economy in a better direction. The first strategy was primarily focused on the central bank’s role of the lender of last resort. The second strategy was meant to provide provision of liquidity directly to borrowers and investors in key credit markets. The last strategy was for the Federal Reserve to expand its open market operations to support the credit markets still working, as well as trying to push long term interest rates down. Since time has passed on since the Great Recession it has been a long road. In this essay we will take a time to reflect on these strategies to see how they helped.

The housing crisis of the late 2000s rocked the economy and changed the landscape of the real estate business for years to come. Decades of people purchasing houses unfordable houses and properties with lenient loans policies led to a collective housing bubble. When the banking system faltered and the economy wilted, interest rates were raised, mortgages increased, and people lost their jobs amidst the chaos. This all culminated in tens of thousands of American losing their houses to foreclosures and short sales, as they could no longer afford the mortgage payments on their homes. The United States entered a recession and homeownership no longer appeared to be a feasible goal as many questioned whether the country could continue to support a middle-class. Former home owners became renters and in some cases homeless as the American Dream was delayed with no foreseeable return. While the future of the economy looked bleak, conditions gradually improved. American citizens regained their jobs, the United States government bailed out the banking industry, and regulations were put in place to deter such events as the mortgage crash from ever taking place again. The path to homeowner ship has been forever altered, as loans in general are now more difficult to acquire and can be accompanied by a substantial down payment.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, otherwise known as the Stimulus Bill, was one of the first major pieces of legislation passed by the new Democratic Congress in 2009 and signed by newly inaugurated President Barack Obama. The legislation was an attempt to take the United States economy out of a major recession through federal spending. The motivation for this bill was the collapse of the housing market bubble and the mortgage crisis. A result of these problems was the decline of consumer and corporate credit, causing monetary liquidity in the economy. Obama argued that the economy needed a “jump-start” to get moving again; that being the stimulus of 2009. Drafts for the bill called for as little as $275 billion in spending,

As the onslaught of the sub-prime mortgage crisis began in late 2007, the housing market plummeted sending the economy into what is now known as the Great Recession. The Federal Reserve, as well as the private and government sectors, quickly took notice. In November of 2008 the Federal Reserve undertook its first trimester of quantitative easing; which means the Fed began purchasing treasury securities to increase the money supply in the system, with the hopes that the increase in assets would encourage lending and investment, leading to a resurgence of the economy in terms of unemployment rates and GDP. As time progressed the Fed continued to implement quantitative easing into its third trimester due to a lack of sufficient results.

The dot-com bubble in 2000 was the start to the, still current, historically low interest rates – all thanks to the Federal Reserve. Since interest rates were so low, many Americans decided that now was the time to get the “American Dream” and buy houses, since the values were going up and mortgage and insurance rates were so low. By serially refinancing, people were quite literally treating their homes as a money bank, and not thinking twice of the equity they were loosing in the process, because they thought that the value would only go up, while their mortgages would decrease, and were blinded by the so called “American Dream”.

After the crash of the market in 2008, Obama created the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The act was an “economic stimulus package”(Amadeo). The act would cost $787 billion. The act was meant to help families and small businesses instead of big business so that people in the United States could put trust into the system again which could stimulate spending and growth. For the purpose of stimulating demand, $260 million was put into cutting taxes, tax credits, and unemployment benefits (Amadeo). This included things like tax credit for first-time homebuyers, college tuition, and extended unemployment benefits. Stimulating demand and trust from the people was the biggest fitting puzzle piece of the stimulus package. The only way for an economy to flourish is when people get extra money that they can spend which would create growth in consumer

In 2012, the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) it was a $700 billion banking rescue package enacted in late 2008. TARP rescued the banking and auto industries, provided loan guarantees, and helped stave off mortgage foreclosures. The government $430 billion of the total $700 billion approved. After repayments and a $25 billion profit, “the TARP’s ultimate net cost to the taxpayers was just $32 billion,” according to March 2012 estimates by the Congressional Budget Office. The TARP program succeeded in helping the economy recover and stabilizing the banking sector. One 2011 study showed that without TARP and other crisis management policies, US GDP would have been 6% lower, the unemployment rate 3% higher and almost five million more people

The housing market crash, which broke out in the United States in 2007, was caused by high risk subprime mortgages. The subprime mortgage crisis resulted in a sudden reduction in money and credit availability from banks and other lending institutions, which was referred to as a “credit crunch.” The “credit crunch” and its effect spread across the United States and further on to other countries across the world. The “credit crunch” caused a collapse in the housing markets, stock markets and major financial institutions across the globe.

The U.S. subprime mortgage crisis was a set of events that led to the 2008 financial crisis, characterized by a rise in subprime mortgage defaults and foreclosures. This paper seeks to explain the causes of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and how this has led to a generalized credit crisis in other financial sectors that ultimately affects the real economy. In recent decades, financial industry has developed quickly and various financial innovation techniques have been abused widely, which is the main cause of this international financial crisis. In addition, deregulation, loose monetary policies of the Federal Reserve, shadow banking system also play

One of the first indications of the late 2000 financial crisis that led to downward spiral known as the “Recession” was the subprime mortgages; known as the “mortgage mess”. A few years earlier the substantial boom of the housing market led to the uprising of mortgage loans. Because interest rates were low, investors took advantage of the low rates to buy homes that they could in return ‘flip’ (reselling) and homeowners bought homes that they typically wouldn’t have been able to afford. High interest rates usually keep people from borrowing money because it limits the amount available to use for an investment. But the creation of the subprime mortgage

The most commonly known sub-prime finance crisis came into illumination when a sudden rise in home foreclosures in 2006 twirled seemingly out of control in 2007, triggering a nationwide economic crisis that went worldwide within the year. The greatest responsibility is pointed at the lenders who created such problems. It was the lenders who, at the end of the day, lend finances to citizens with poor credit and a high risk of failure to pay. When the Feds inundated the markets with growing capital liquidity, its purpose was not only to lesser interest rates but it also largely low risk premiums as shareholders sought after dangerous opportunities to strengthen their investment profits. At that point of time, lenders found themselves loaded with capital for lending out and higher willingness to undertake higher risks in a surge to get greater investment returns. To triumph over of the financial unsteadiness and housing price bubbles, Federal Reserve has to intervene to combat these issues.

Low interest rates and large inflows of foreign funds created easy credit conditions. Subprime lending contribute to increase the housing demand.This fueled rising house prices.This housing bubble resulted in quite a few homeowners refinancing their homes at lower interest rates. This led to a building boom. Easy credit encouraged borrowers to obtain ARM. If borrowers could not make the payments ,they would try to refinance. Refinancing became more difficult, when house prices began to decline in USA. Borrowers found themselves unable to afford higher monthly payments ,then default. This places downward pressure on housing prices.