THE FLIP SIDE OF THE U.S. ECONOMIC RECESSION 2007-09

This paper is an attempt to translate economic figures and indices into the living conditions of people who are behind the statistics of the U.S. economic recession, which officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009. The pathology of the Great Recession began with the financial shock, which resulted from the buildup of financial mischief since the 1980s, and the burst of its real estate bubble by 2007. A recession is a man-made tragedy with a large human cost. This paper addresses this flip side of the current economic crisis by examining its human consequences on different social classes and groups. A breakdown of various data proves that the working class, the majority in U.S. society, suffers most from the recession, and yet, some amongst them even more than others, depending upon their social status with regard to education, race, and age.

Keywords:

Great Recession, Unemployment rates, Human cost ,

PDF

___

Bernanke, Ben (October 20, 2005), The Economic Outlook: Testimony before the Joint Economic Committee, http://www.house.gov/jec/hearings/testimony/109/10- 05bernanke.pdf [Accessed 2.2.2011]
Bloomberg (October 23, 2008), Greenpan Concedes to “Flaw” in His Market Ideology, http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ah5qh9Up4rIg&ref er=home [2.2.2011]
Greenspan, Alan (January 26, 2004), Remarks by Chairman Alan Greenspan:
Economic flexibility, http://www.federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/speeches/2004/20040126/default.htm Accessed 2.2.2011]
Moseley, Fred (1991), The Falling Rate of Profit in the Postwar Untied States
Economy, London: Macmillan Academic and Professional LTD. Krugman, Paul (October 20, 2002), For Richer, http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:4NV8__ceLqQJ:spot.col orado.edu/~kaplan/econ3080/Krugmanmiddle.html+Paul+Krugman+wealth+uneq uality+ny+times&cd=6&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com Accessed 1.2.2011]
Policy and Economy Blog, Housing Bubble Graphs, http://mysite.verizon.net/vzeqrguz/housingbubble/ [Accessed 2.2.2011]
Soto, Mauricio (December 10, 2008), How Is the Financial Crisis Affecting
Retirement Savings? http://www.urban.org/publications/901206.html [Accessed 1.2011]
The Economist (March 19, 2008), The Financial System: What Went Wrong, http://www.economist.com/node/10881318 [Accessed 2. 3. 2011]
The Financial Crisis Inquiry Report (January 2011), Conclusion, http://www.fcic.gov/report/conclusions [Accessed 1.2.2011]
The New York Times (November 6, 2009), Economy, http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/11/06/business/economy/unemploymen t-lines.html [Accessed 3.2.2011]
The Washington Post (October 27, 2005), Bernanke: There's No Housing Bubble to Go Bust, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2005/10/26/AR200510260 html [Accessed 2.2.2011]
USA Today (January 11, 2009), Economy prompts more calls to suicide hotlines, http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-01-11-suicide-hotlines_N.htm, Accessed 3.3.2011]
Zweig, Michael (2000), The Working Class Majority: America’s Best Kept
Secret, New York: Cornell University Press.