Similarities Between the Great Depression and the Great Recession

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The housing crisis in America is a major problem plaguing the United States' economy. Before a solution is formulated, one must consider the history of the market and the causes of the problem. And after a solution is formulated, one must present an idea for prevention of the problem for the future.

Many people see similarities between The Great Depression in the late 1920s to the late 1930s. The Great Depression was caused by the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Leading up to the crash was The Roaring Twenties. It was right after World War I. The United States' economy was stimulated by producing things for the war. People seemed to have a lot of money. There were many new technologies and new infrastructure. There was a new concept of credit nicknamed "buy now, pay later." Not long after this concept came to be, the stock market crashed.

For the decades before the current housing crisis, buying homes and loaning money was a simple, but strict, affair and had had two outcomes. Either the borrower could pay back the money owed or they could not pay the money back. If the borrower could pay the money back, they could keep their house or whatever they took out the loan for. If they could not pay the money back, the lenders repossess the things that were not paid for. When this happens with a house, it is called foreclosure.

Leading up to the crisis of the housing market, borrowers got mortgages without understanding the terms. Banks were giving out loans to people the banks weren't sure could pay the money back. The closer to the crisis, the higher the frequency of illegitimate loans and mortgages. Because there were so many mortgages on houses that could not be paid back, millions of mortgages were foreclosed on, and the houses we...

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... a loan before the loan is given to the person. Banks need to make sound investments as well. Chances are, the banks are using other people's money to invest in things. Banks should not be allowed to do just anything with money that is not theirs.

Now that we know what needs to be done, why is it not getting done? Perhaps congressmen have become preoccupied or have forgotten. As citizens, we must elect the proper congressmen and other government leaders. We must contact our state's congressmen to remind them and tell them what we want.

In conclusion, we have determined that the housing crisis that the United States faces today is a huge problem. We have discussed the striking similarities between the Great Depression in the 1920s and 1930s and today's problem. And I have presented my solution to the problem and how I think it should be prevented in the future.

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