Housing Crisis in the Mid-2000s, Research Paper

Using a timeline from the peak of new housing construction to the present day, the following occurred. GDP growth slowed, followed by a three-quarter recession and slow growth has resumed on the other side of that recession. The unemployment rate skyrocketed, more than doubling in a short period of time, and has lingered at high levels for over a year. The rate of inflation fell well below the Fed's target rate, this despite aggressive expansionary monetary policy. The federal government, whose budget had previously oscillated between monthly surpluses and deficits, has been in deficit every single month -- and deeper deficits than every before -- as it has taken several fiscal policy measures to contain the economic damage.This evidence makes the clear case that steps should be taken to avoid a repeat of this housing crisis in the future, since the economic impacts are uniformly negative and in many cases have devastating long-run consequences (especially unemployment and deep deficit spending).

Works Cited:

US Census Bureau: New housing starts. Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://www.census.gov/const/startssa.pdf

Bureau of Economic Analysis: Gross Domestic Product. Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://www.bea.gov/national/index.htm#gdp

Bureau of Labor Statistics: Unemployment. Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://data.bls.gov/pdq/SurveyOutputServlet-data_tool=latest_numbers&series_id=LNS14

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