Much research has been done on the recent boom and bust of the housing market in the United States, and housing’s impact on the labor market has been a topic of increasing interest among academics and policy makers.
The ongoing financial crisis brought to the forefront gaps in clear, objective assessments of systemic risk relating to the U.S. banking sector. Many observers believe that there are unresolved questions in this area, and that the so-called “too big to fail” problem for large banks persists. But how to measure fragility and risk accurately remains an open question.
In the United States, the majority of retirement savings are invested in equity — shares in publicly traded companies. Traditionally, high average returns have offset the inherent risks of investments in stocks, but that equation changed following the recent financial crisis. In the past three years, the value of equity has declined, growth has been sluggish and many forecasters have continued to predict low returns from stocks in the coming decade.
The economic turmoil of 2007-2009 adversely impacted household earnings across America, but a 2011 research study details the extent to which significant declines in household wealth were concentrated in lower-income and minority populations and those whose wealth was primarily derived from their homes.
In September 2011 the Census Bureau issued a report on household income, health insurance coverage and poverty levels in the United States. It showed the extent to which the Great Recession, despite having officially ended in 2009, continued to adversely impact Americans’ standards of living.
