Late-2000s Recession

Late-2000s Recession

The Great Recession (also referred to as the Lesser Depression, the Long Recession, or the global recession of 2009) is a marked global economic decline that began in December 2007 and took a particularly sharp downward turn in September 2008. The initial phase of the ongoing crisis, which manifested as a liquidity crisis, can be dated from August 7, 2007, when BNP Paribas, citing a "complete evaporation of liquidity," terminated withdrawals from three hedge funds. The bursting of the U.S. housing bubble, which peaked in 2006, caused the values of securities tied to U.S. real estate pricing to plummet, damaging financial institutions globally.

The global recession has affected the entire world economy, with greater detriment to some countries than others. It is a major global recession characterized by various systemic imbalances and was sparked by the outbreak of the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and financial crisis of 2007–08. The economic side effects of the European sovereign debt crisis, austerity, high levels of household debt, trade imbalances, high unemployment and limited prospects for global growth in 2013 and 2014 continue to provide obstacles to full recovery from the Great Recession.