The Role of Banks in Economic Recessions

“If to be in crisis means that the whole system is on the brink of total collapse or explosion, then we probably do not have a crisis.” (Cavadino and Dignan, 2002: 10)

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.

A recession occurs when a country’s real GDP begins to shrink. Even a milder economic slowdown in which GDP continues to grow, but very slowly can create unemployment and dislocation. GDP and employment are positively correlated. As GDP rises

The Federal Reserve System is the most powerful institution in the United States economy. Functioning as the central bank of the United States, acting as a regulator, the lender of last resort, and setting the nation’s monetary policy via the Federal Open Market Committee, there is no segment of the American economy unaffected by the Federal Reserve [endnoteRef:1]. This power becomes even more substantial in times of “unusual and exigent circumstances,” as Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act gives authority to the Board of Governors to act unilaterally in lending and market making operations during financial crisis[endnoteRef:2]. As illustrated by their decision making in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Great Recession,

“Lehman Collapse Sends Shockwave around the World” Reads the British newspaper, The Times, as the world sinks further into the recession in September 2008. The housing collapse was orchestrated and perpetrated by a system created by investment banks to allow them to make money, by keep the American people in debt, even when the banks knew the loans would default. The investing banking system was left unchecked by the United States government because it did not have the regulations as did the depository banks. There was immoral investing in people’s retirement, pensions, and homes where it created at housing collapse, in which thousands of people over paid in their subprime loans and lost their homes in the process. The federal Reserve is a very selfish and heartless entity in America that has had powerful influence in American politics for decades. The Federal Reserve must be dissolved and succeeded by a federalized entity that has no obligation to any investors. It must contain checks and balances to create a fair playing field. It must not benefit one group of people, but the nation as a whole. Finally, the new banking structure must be solid to keep necessities at steady prices, and must not work on speculation. Prior to “the Fed”, two previous central banking systems were in place, but were limited on how long they influenced (both twenty years) their interest in government, and twice, both banking system were not allowed renewal because many political figures,

A recession is characterised by a period of at least two consecutive quarters of negative growth. During a recession, demand and supply of goods and services in the economy contracts. The UK economy contracted by 1.5% in the last quarter of 2008 and the Gross Domestic Product experienced its biggest fall since the second quarter of 1980 (Kowelle 2009). This is the first time since the inception of the NMW that employment has fallen. Unemployment is rapidly on the increase.

The great recession of the year 2007-2009 had a substantial adverse impact on the US Economy and the world. Charles Ferguson documentary narrates how politicians, bankers, and economist conspired to create a crisis that caused high unemployment, increased the United States global debt and contributed to the loss of investments and savings. He describes how banks resisted regulation in the early 1990's by CFTC and how successive regimes led to the crisis by enacting laws that supported the process.

According to the financial definition, a recession is a significant decline in activity spread across the economy, lasting longer than a few months. It is visible in industrial production, employment, real income, and wholesale-retail trade. The technical indicator of a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth as measured by a country's GDP. (Dictionary.com) A less official and more realistic definition of an economic recession is the social perception of the state of the economy at a given time. The collective beliefs of the public, mainly businesses and consumers, drive the social perception of whether things are seen as positive or negative. Unfortunately

The Great Recession inflicted abundant harm in the U.S. and global economy; 8.7 million jobs vanished (Center on Budget), 9.3 million Americans lost their homes (Kusisto), and the U.S. GDP fell below what the economy was capable to produce (Center on Budget). The financial crisis was unforeseen by millions and few predicted that the market would enter a recession. Due to the impact that the recession had, several studies have been conducted in order to determine what caused the recession and if it could have been prevented. Government intervention played a key role in the crisis by providing the bailout money that saved those “Too Big to Fail” institutions. Due to the amount of money invested in the bailout and the damage that the financial crisis had on the U.S. population, “Too Big to Fail Banks”, and financial regulation are two of the biggest focuses of the presidential candidates. Politicians might assure voters that change will occur, but is it to late for change to be efficient, are the financial institutions making the same mistakes that led to the financial crisis?

The financial crisis that happened during 2007-09 was considered the worst financial crisis in the world since the great depression in the 1930s. It leads to a series of banking failures and also prolonged recession, which have affected millions of Americans and paralyzed the whole financial system. Although it was happened a long time ago, the side effects are still having implications for the economy now. This has become an enormously common topic among economists, hence it plays an extremely important role in the economy. There are many questions that were asked about the financial crisis, one of the most common question that dragged attention was ’’How did the government (Federal Reserve) contributed to the financial crisis?’’

The banking crisis of the late 2000s, often called the Great Recession, is labelled by many economists as the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Its effect on the markets around the world can still be felt. Many countries suffered a drop in GDP, small or even negative growth, bankrupting businesses and rise in unemployment. The welfare cost that society had to paid lead to an obvious question: ‘Who’s to blame?’ The fingers are pointed to the United States of America, as it is obvious that this is where the crisis began, but who exactly is responsible? Many people believe that the banks are the only ones that are guilty, but this is just not true. The crisis was really a systematic failure, in which many problems in the

A recession is full-proof sign of declined activity within the economic environment. Many economists generally define the attributes of a recession are two consecutive quarters with declining GDP. Many factors contribute to an economy's fall into a recession, but the major cause argued is inflation. As individuals or even businesses try to cut costs and spending this causes GDP to decline, unemployment rate can rise due to less spending which can be one of the combined factors when an economy falls into a recession. Inflation is the general rise in prices of goods and services over a period of time. Inflation can happen for reasons such as higher energy and production costs and that includes governmental debt.

Recession is a term that looms over any society at some point or another but what does recession mean for the economy, in short it is an economic decline. This essay will examine the meaning of recession and will discuss the fiscal and monetary policies that are used to pull economies out of recessions. The great Recession of 2008 will shed light on how these policies were successful at restoring economic growth and reducing unemployment.

Part 8 - A recession is typically defined as at least two consecutive quarters of economic decline in GDP. When this happens, unemployment tends to rise, personal income may drop, and the price of goods and services become volatile. Most agree that it is impossible to eliminate recession in a capitalistic economy, since it is so cyclic. Recessions may trim weak business and allow stronger ones to survive by employing techniques that improve quality and service. Recession does not mean depression; it simply means that there are peaks and valleys within the overall economic system. Now that economies are more global though, these dips have a far more reaching set of consequences. In most firms, however, recession may result in some lay-offs, but it also may mean greater attention to sustainability, cost-cutting, and a more lean and strategic approach to the individual product or service (Moffatt, 2009).

In 2008, the world experienced a tremendous financial crisis which is rooted from the U.S housing market. Moreover, it is considered by many economists as one of the worst recessions since the Great Depression in 1930s. After bringing a huge effect on the U.S economy, the financial crisis expanded to Europe and the rest of the world. It ruined economies, crumble financial corporations and impoverished individual lives. For example, the financial crisis has resulted in the collapse of massive financial institutions such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG. These collapses not only influenced own countries but also international scale. Hence, the intervention of governments by changing and expanding the monetary