After years of big business and deregulation, the bubble burst in September of 2008, crashing down hard, on millions of Americans. The impact shadows economics in America by triggering the national economy into complete devastation.

            “The country has not been through something like this,” says Mr. Hariton, an Economics teacher at Norwalk High School.

            One year ago, on September 15, Wall Street’s most elite financial institutions crumbled into bankruptcy that caused massive lay-offs and a soaring unemployment rate. Companies in the heart of the World New York City such as Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, and Merrill Lynch were gone and disease rapidly spread down to local businesses and homeowners around the country, effecting millions of middle-class Americans.

             “A year ago we were very close to having the entire economy system collapsing,” says Hariton. The national unemployment numbers soared to more than half-a million workers each month and the gloom on the news became more grim for the dreams of aspiring individuals. Money and confidence in the plummeting economy fell causing everyone to make changes in their daily spending. 

 “Consumers, businesses, and banks are the three legs in the economy and in a normal recession only one of the three legs is affected. But that is not what happened in this recession,” explains Mr. Hariton.

“In this recession, all three legs of the economy fell and only then was the government to rescue. The past was a house cards as it seems that greed took over in business. Businesses saw record profits and continued their habits never thinking twice about the consequences it could have. The country has not been through something like this, the economy is far more complex on a global level than it was during the Great Depression. This recession will impact people forever creating a new norm on how banks and people spend and barrow money.”

Alex Handler (’10) has felt the change over the past year, as money becomes a bigger concern in his daily life. “There has been a progress since the lowest point around three months after the crash, but it still affects everyday my parents and I. Money has become much tighter but despite this I feel more grateful to be so lucky.”

Although change during these times may be very difficult, people still have an optimistic self-reliance that this financial recession is only temporary, but there are still ways to save money.

Jill Daley (‘10) says that even though money is an issue, she has made a significant difference in spending. By resisting the urge to purchasing new items and relying on services, her creativity and financial conscientious mind allows her to deal with the change that even one year later still has its struggle on Americans.  

The United States is a nation of 307,212,123 people according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Since the start of the recession in December 2007 the unemployment rate doubled to 10.2. percent. A year and $787 billion stimulus later, 15.1 million people are still unemployed.