-
President Gets More Power
In 1970 Congress decided to pass a law that gave the president the power to regulate prices and wages. Nixon originally opposed but it he ended up using it in 1971. -
Nixon Imposes Wage Freeze/ Stagflation
in 1971 an inflation rate of 5% alarmed President Nixon to the point that he imposed a 90 day price-wage freeze. which caused inflation to increase even more later. -
The Oil Crisis
On October 6, 1973, Egypt and Syria led an attack on the state of Israel. This led to the Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir to plead for help from President Nixon. Nixon accepted his request, sending aircrafts and much needed materials to Israel. This action caused the Arab to cut off the oil shipments to the west, forcing a huge increase of oil prices in America. -
Bracket Creep
Wages and salaries rose responding to inflation, which bumped people into higher tax brackets. This caused resentment and frustration because the wages still matched the cost of living, the people were not actually making more profit for them to be moved into higher tax brackets. -
Layoffs Hit Home
As debt in companies increased, many companies cut costs with layoffs. Nearly 100,000 workers lost their jobs when U.S. Steel combined with Marathon, many companies also moved out of the US such as Xerox in 1980 and Nike in 1984. Nearly 1/3 of middle management positions were eliminated. -
Reaganomics
During his presidency, Reagan issued major tax cuts, social welfare cuts, and increased military spending. These policies led to a great increase in federal deficits, tripling the nation's debt. It also helped the reorganization of big businesses -
The Merger Movement
America began to climb out of the recession because of Reagan's economic policies. This sparked the merging of large corporations, along with relaxed regulation of Wall Street. This movement is defined by the buying and selling of junk bonds, high risk but high reward bonds issued by companies that are in debt. During the 80s, there were around 25,000 mergers, which produced a total value of a half-trillion dollars. -
Stockmarket Crash of 1987
In October 1987 the stock market crashed, it made the assets held by many of the S&L worthless. Hundereds of people plunged into bankruptcy. -
Economic Boom of the 90s
The rise of the Internet and technology contributed to the prosperity of the 1990s. With the internet came online shopping and in 1995, the creation of Amazon. These websites, funded by venture capitalists, caused a dramatic increase in consumption and sales, raising $20 billion in stocks. However, people could sense a recession coming when selling wave hit the stock market, causing $2 trillion in funds to disappear. -
2008 Financial Meltdown
Consumers went on a spending spree due to the end of the Cold War. People were spending more then they earned, they became swamped with bills they couldn't pay. The stock market crashed and people began panic selling, fearing that the 2nd Great Depression would happen. The crash led to the collapse of the mortgage market and the total household debt reached $14.5 trillion. Congress passed bail-out bills to stop from complete economic crisis. -
Health Care Reform
In 2009 the medical cost had spun out of control. Medical expenditures were $8,000 by 2009, where as in 1990, it was only $3,000. Most Americans were hit with staggering medical bills or weren't treated at all. Obama's goal was to change this by providing health care to all Americans who lacked it and to reduce health care costs. Obama came up with a plan to help with this, but it would be phased in over ten years at a cost of $1 trillion, and the coverage would not be universal.
