Between 2007 and 2009, the housing market saw its most significant downturn since the Great Depression: the Great Recession

US homeownership rates declined from the start of the Great Recession through 2016

In 2004, the US homeownership rate was 69%. When the bubble popped in 2007, due to a variety of factors (including the prevalence of subprime mortgages) the Great Recession began. Foreclosures increased, as did the ratio of renters to homeowners. In 2016, the homeownership rate was at roughly 63.4%.

The Great Depression is one of history's most notable periods of deflation

The stock market crash of 1929 helped trigger a period of deflation in the United States by creating a drastic decrease in the total money supply. Because of the United States' central role in the world economy, virtually every single country was impacted by the recession.

Markets have always recovered and hit new highs following crashes

The crash that preceded the Great Depression was the most severe the US has ever experienced. It was 28 times worse than the downturn that followed the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Federal Reserve fought the Great Recession primarily with quantitative easing and repurchasing agreements

During the Great Recession, the Fed stimulated the economy by buying people and businesses' debt, notably through purchasing mortgage-backed securities and buying bonds with slim margins. The two processes, quantitative easing and repurchase agreements, both helped increase the amount of money in the economy to increase consumer spending.

The National Housing Act established the Federal Housing Administration

During the Great Depression, 1,000 homes were foreclosed on per day, and half of the mortgages across the country defaulted. To address this crisis, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Housing Act. It established the Federal Housing Administration, which is still around today and helps protect lenders and buyers.

The 2008 financial system unraveled in a wave of speculation

Michael Lewis—author of the bestselling "The Big Short"—explains how a wave of speculation (among other factors) drove the 2008 collapse, from lenders issuing risky mortgages to Wall Street turning them into fragile securities. He also highlights the few outsiders who recognized the bubble and bet against it before the crash.

One theory suggests real estate markets follow a predictable 18-year pattern

The theory dictates that real estate markets tend to experience about 14 years of growth, including a mid-cycle dip, then experience four years of decline. Real estate experts in London discuss the theory in an article.

What was it like to live through the Great Depression?

Hear the personal accounts of four people who lived through the Great Depression, as told by NPR's Throughline. Listen to this 47-minute podcast episode to get a bit more insight into the countrywide economic crisis and what it meant it for everyday people.

Read about why bans on short selling are a controversial policy

Generally, short selling is legal, but regulations often restrict short positions when a stock has experienced a sharp price decline (more than 10% in one day). However, negative feedback loops in times of financial crisis have given short selling a bad reputation. The government has temporarily banned short selling during previous market downturns—like The Great Recession of 2008 and the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic—but experts argue whether those bans actually improved market stability or just distorted prices.

The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 when the Nasdaq dropped more than 76% in roughly 2 years

Between 1995 and 2000, the Nasdaq Composite index jumped from roughly 1,000 to 5,000 amid excitement over new internet companies. As venture capitalists dumped money into startups, those same companies struggled to turn a profit, leading to a bubble. The Nasdaq wouldn't reach its former high until 2015.

The clearest sign of a recession is a steady increase of job losses and high unemployment

The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) looks at six key economic indicators, including industrial production, to determine when the economy is experiencing a recession.

The financial crisis in 2008 had a major impact on many 401(k) plans

Amid the 2008 financial crisis, stocks and bonds cratered as the broader market floundered due to the subprime mortgage crisis. Investors with so-called "target-date" funds—which shift allocations based on the maturation of a fund—shared in the slump, with some funds declining by 20% or more just a year or two away from maturation.

Buyers used to borrow money from people within their communities to purchase property

Historically, borrowing money from other people to purchase property was common until private financing companies—primarily building and loan associations—stepped in to offer mortgages to buyers.

1970s New York was viewed by many as a city in decline

By 1975, the city owed $5B to $6B in short-term debt; over a million manufacturing jobs had left the city since the end of World War II. Meanwhile, the murder rate was more than double than 10 years earlier. Graffiti was seen as illegal vandalism perpetrated by unsupervised teenagers and was viewed by some as emblematic of the larger societal decline.

Many retail investors exited the stock market after 2008, leading to a drop in individual market participation

That changed thanks to GameStop, federal stimulus checks, and strong corporate results in the first quarter of 2021. This chart plots how much retail investors poured into the market each day, reaching records in early 2023.

Read about the evolution of the S&P 500 and its recession recovery

Since the S&P 500 is considered a bellwether index (meaning it represents the health of the US economy), its value is important for investors in both bull and bear markets. The S&P 500 has been impacted by recessions and downturns, from the 1970s oil crisis to the dot-com crash of the early 2000s.

China has a ‘ghost town of abandoned mansions’

This video shows how China’s property bubble deflated as new-home sales collapsed and more than 50 developers defaulted. In Shenyang, an abandoned “ghost town” reveals the fallout of a boom built on debt and overbuilding that could no longer be sustained.

Housing prices have skyrocketed over the last 50 years

After adjusting for inflation, housing costs have more than doubled since 1965. And based on average incomes, buyers are spending more than five times their income for a home versus buyers in 1965, who typically spent less than three times their income.

NASCAR started declining in 2007

In the 1990s and early 2000s, NASCAR was one of the biggest sports in North America. It was racking up ratings and ticket sales on par with the NFL, and even beating the NBA Finals viewership. Ratings went down in 2007 and stayed there until 2018 due to a number of factors such as a changing media landscape, rule changes, and the retirement of popular drivers.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

Why private credit has faced challenges in recent years

The factors that some experts say are driving what could be private credit's most challenging era since the 2008 financial crisis include global economic uncertainty around trade and tariffs, investor fears about the amount of money being spent on artificial intelligence, and more.

The Occupy Wall Street protests lasted 59 days

After the 2008 recession, one of the main slogans of Occupy Wall Street was, “We are the 99%,” alluding to the wealth disparity between America’s wealthiest 1% of all households and the rest of the country.

Oil shocks, war, and the 1970s crisis that remade American energy and economics

The oil crises of the 1970s—fueled by Middle East conflict and OPEC’s dominance—triggered inflation, price controls, and policy failure. But they also accelerated fracking, alternative energy, and the rise of free-market economics.

Every year, nearly 500,000 bankruptcies are filed in the US

From personal hardships to major corporate collapses like Enron and Bed Bath & Beyond, filing for bankruptcy isn't a quick fix or a “get-out-of-jail-free” card—it’s a complex, structured process offering debt relief or repayment options.

7 prominent investors rejected Airbnb in its early days

Airbnb is arguably known as one of the most successful startup stories of all time. But back in 2008, many prominent investors rejected their pitch when they went out to raise money—and Airbnb's founder still has the rejection emails to prove it.

What killed the Disney Renaissance

Disney aficionados consider the late 1980s and 1990s to be the Disney Renaissance, a period that found the House of Mouse returning to its roots: animated musicals aimed at children and their families. This in-depth video essay argues that the end of the company’s most popular period was caused by shortsighted business decisions and changing technologies.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

US consumers collectively owe more than $1T to credit card companies—almost as much as they owe in auto loans.

Frank Lloyd Wright's houses are historically hard to sell because they're old, subject to local landmark commissions, and often unfashionable

The United States has had a tumultuous relationship with Cuba since its 1959 revolution, highlighted by a nuclear crisis and a decades-long trade embargo.

Jimmy Carter signed a 1978 bill that legalized home brewing, a move credited with kick-starting the craft beer industry.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

See a ranking of the best (and worst) Federal Reserve Chairs since 1914 out of the 16 men and women who have held the office since.

While the first exchange-traded fund (a 'basket' of different assets that can be bought and sold on a stock exchange) in the US only launched in 1993, the global ETF market has grown to more than $10T in the short time since.

See how Ebola tore through Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia in 2014-2016.

Long before Major League Baseball began allowing instant replay for balls and strikes, an umpire reluctantly used the technology to determine whether a hit was a home run, a move that inadvertently ushered in a new era for the sport.

The Nasdaq's 'Magnificent 7' companies are responsible for roughly 40% of the Nasdaq 100 index's gains, while the remaining 93 companies account for the other 60%.

See 33 images that became central to huge scandals, including a young Charles and Camilla, Michael Jackson's baby on a hotel balcony, and Hugh Grant's mugshot.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Watch contemporary footage covering the US-backed Shah of Iran fleeing the country in the face of the 1979 Iranian Revolution

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

In 2019, a laptop loaded with six of the worst malware in history and described as 'an exhibit of historical weaponry' sold for $1.3M.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

The Beatles' US label rejected the band's first two singles, 'Please Please Me' and 'From Me to You,' with one executive calling the band 'dead in the water.'

Some coin denominations have ridges etched on their sides, partly to prevent counterfeiting, in a practice called 'reeding.'

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'

Some renewable energy sources may weaken the resiliency of electric grids by removing outage buffers provided by coal- and natural gas-fired plants, which provide the system with more time to find a new power source if a plant goes down.