The Economy in Crisis Eco 352 Spring 2014

Some Economic Indicators NYS unemployment –December 07: 4.7%, February 2014: 6.8% U.S. unemployment –December 07: 5.0%, March 2014: 6.7% U.S. inflation –December 07: 4.1%, March 2014: 1.5% Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics/FRED

NBER Business Cycle Data

Time Line (1) November 1999: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (Financial Services Modernization Act) passes. It repeals the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933.Gramm-Leach-Bliley ActGlass-Steagall Act August 2005: Raghuram Rajan delivers his paper "Has Financial Development Made the World Riskier?", warning about credit default swaps, at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium. His arguments are rejected by attendees, including Alan Greenspan, Donald Kohn, and Lawrence SummersRaghuram Rajancredit default swapsJackson Hole Economic SymposiumAlan GreenspanDonald Kohn Lawrence Summers

Timeline (2) August 9, 2007: French investment bank BNP Paribas suspends three investment funds that invested in subprime mortgage debt, due to a "complete evaporation of liquidity" in the market. The bank's announcement is the first of many credit-loss and write-down announcements by banks, mortgage lenders and other institutional investors, as subprime assets went bad, due to defaults by subprime mortgage payers. This announcement compels the intervention of the European Central Bank, pumping 95 billion euros into the European banking market.BNP ParibasEuropean Central Bank September 15, 2008: Lehman Brothers files for bankruptcy protection.

Depth Duration (months) Real GDPReal GDI Unemployment Rate Average, Current Episode Current + SPF Forecast NA4.60 Great Depression Measures of Recession Depth and Duration NOTE: Depth measures the average percent change from peak to trough for real GDP and real GDI and the average percentage-point change from trough to peak for the unemployment rate. Changes in real GDP and real GDI during the Great Depression are based on annual data. SOURCE: Kevin L. Kliesen ’ s calculations based on quarterly data. Economic Synopses, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, March 23, 2009.

U.S. NATIONAL DEBT CLOCK The Outstanding Public Debt as of 20 April 2009 is: $ 1 1, 197, 726, 249, 988 The estimated population of the United States is 306,038,582, so each citizen's share of this debt is $36, The National Debt has continued to increase an average of $3.84 billion per day since September 28, 2007! Source: U.S. National Debt Clock,

U.S. International Indebtedness (Net U.S. asset position as a % of GDP) Source: Calculations by Eshragh Motahar based on data from the Fed and the BEA)

ent-bailouts History of U.S. Gov’t Bailouts

Universal HealthCare $104 billion per year could implement the Obama healthcare plan The above is equal to 15% of U.S.’s 2008 military budget (Source: Paul Krugman, “Kealthcare Now,” The Newy York Times, 1/30/2009, citing research from The Commonwealth Fund.)

US military spending accounts for 48 percent, or almost half, of the world’s total military spending US military spending is more than the next 46 highest spending countries in the world combined US military spending is 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran. US military spending is almost 55 times the spending on the six “rogue” states (Cuba, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) whose spending amounts to around $13 billion, maximum. (Tabulated data does not include four of the six, as the data only lists nations that have spent over 1 billion in the year, so their budget is assumed to be $1 billion each) US spending is more than the combined spending of the next 45 countries. The United States and its strongest allies (the NATO countries, Japan, South Korea and Australia) spend $1.1 trillion on their militaries combined, representing 72 percent of the world’s total. The six potential “enemies,” Russia, and China together account for about $205 billion or 29% of the US military budget. Source:

U.S. population: 4% of World population U.S. Military Spending vs. the Rest of the World

More Economic Indicators Median household income, adjusted for inflation, lower in 2007 than in 2000