A_Moral_Never-Never_Land

The More Factors: Economy in Crisis The Great Recession marked the global financial degeneration which began in the winter of 2007 and took a predominantly harsh downturn in the fall of 2008. The Great Recession also, known as the global recession exaggerated the entire world economy. The Great Recession is a major global epidemic characterized by innumerable systemic imbalances that were generated by the financial corruption and greed of Wall Street. The U.S. faces persistently high unemployment, low consumer confidence and negative home equity, resulting in mass foreclosures. America has been plagued by three periods of profound economic disaster: the Great Depression, the crisis of the 1970s and the current financial crisis; however, America has provided unlimited opportunities that can be achieved through perseverance and hard work. Americans have been revered as optimist for the future of the American dream with the presumption that there will always be another great discovery that will change our status in the global economy. However, the same optimism that motivates is the same optimism that corrupts. America has provided many opportunities and resources throughout the centuries to be extorted. According to Laurence Shames, author of “The More Factor”, big business effects on the country can be traced back to the frontier period. Shames argued, “America was those opportunities. This was an article not just faith, but of strategy” (91). Railroad tycoons built makeshift towns, with paid townsmen to stay for census; in order to get additional railroad stations. Although the towns were emptied after the census, it proved that big business was willing to do what was necessary to reach their goals. Shames also argued that the optimism “shaped the schemes and visions that were sometimes noble, sometimes appalling, always bold” (92). American greed shaped the foundation of the Great Depression, as well as our current recession. The role of government became larger, and unions became more powerful in the manufacturing industry. The stock market appeared to have provided a quick rich scheme; however, the markets soon turned to bankruptcy. In the Great Plains, natural resources were extorted by years of overgrazing combined with the drought that allowed the exposed topsoil to be picked up by high winds to form dust storms. The dust storms destroyed homes, towns and land, leaving farmers without crops. The crisis of the 1970s changed the framework of American’s view of smaller government with less union involvement, which is known as the “neoliberal capitalism” era. During the 1970’s American faced a crippling shortage of gas, and a major energy crisis caused by the Iranian war. The crisis of the 1970s was the spindle between the era of the recovery of the Great Depression and the new era of nostalgia. Shames argued: It might seem strange to call the 1980s an era of nostalgia. The decade, after all, has been more usually described in terms of coolness, pragmatism, and a blithe innocence of history. But the eighties, unawares, were nostalgic for frontiers; and the disappointment of that nostalgia had much to do with time’s greed, narrowness, and strange want of joy. (95) The 1980s were a decade of greed, which encompassed Reaganomics, the economic policies promoted by President Ronald Regan. The economic decline in 2008 could not be reduced to one event; numerous systematic failures contributed to the decline of the global economy. In 2008, the housing market burst leading to drastic increases in subprime mortgage foreclosures. Financial institutions were overexposed to bad mortgage investments, which lead to their collapse. The auto industry was also failing at this time, due to a massive drop in auto sells. The American auto industry requested 34 billion dollars in congressional relief. Corruption and optimism played a major role in the failure of the financial and automotive industry. Banks kept interest rates low between 2003 and 2005 and allowed the inflation of real estate and credit. Banks believed that they would cash in on the real estate boom that was to follow. Although America has been on the verge of economic collapse, Americans have proved to be optimistic of this country’s future. According to Barbara Ehrenreich, author of “Bright-Sided”, Americans’ greatest strength is optimism. The American optimism proves the motivation to “take great risks and dare great things” (532). I agree with Ehrenreich when she states, “Whether we Americans see it as an embarrassment or point of pride, and being positive- in affect, in mood, in outlook- seems to be engrained in our national character” (533). Success can only be achieved through “optimism, pride and a sense of determination”. Works Cited Shames, Laurence "The More Factor.” “Signs of Life in the USA (7th Edition). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012: 90-96. Print. Ehrenreich, Barbara “Bright-Sided.” “Signs of Life in the USA (7th Edition). New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012: (532-541). Print