GNP of USA

Gross National Product in the United States increased to 18766.40 USD Billion in the second
quarter of 2018 from 17551.88 USD Billion in the first quarter of 2018. Gross National Product
in the United States averaged 8407.57 USD Billion from 1950 until 2018, reaching an all-time
high of 18766.40 USD Billion in the second quarter of 2018 and a record low of 2098.40 USD
Billion in the first quarter of 1950.

Economic Crisis 2008-09

The main cause of the current economic crisis was thought to be that US banks provided high-
risk loans to people with poor credit history to purchase homes prior to 2007. Between 2004
and 2006 house prices fell and interest rates in the US rose from 1% to 5.35% thereby triggering
a slowdown of the housing market. Homeowners could no longer afford the large mortgages
they had taken to buy their houses. Therefore, banks and investors suffered losses and would
not take on any more risk, leading to a freezing of the credit market. The same problem
occurred in Europe. The European Central Bank (ECB) and the US Federal Bank made funds
available for banks and they cut interest rates, so the banks could start providing loans again.
Since banks were still very cautious about loans and did not lend to one another, the measures
of the ECB and the Federal Reserve did not prevent the crisis progressing. From the beginning
of 2008, banks and investors faced severe problems. Governments tried to keep banks and
investors in business by providing them very large loans in exchange for shares in the banks.
On September 15, 2008 Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank in the USA, filed for
bankruptcy being the first of many banks in the US and Europe to collapse. The lack of
confidence in the credit market led to a decline in economic growth and from the second half
of 2008 many countries all over the world entered a recession.