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The global financial and economic crisis started in the United States. Falling U.S. housing prices led to major problems at U.S. subprime lending outfits; in turn, this prompted problems at major U.S. financial institutions and a broad credit squeeze, which affected the global economy. As the crisis grew, reticent U.S. consumer spending also weighed on global economic prospects, and large-scale spending plans put forth by the government raised fears that the crisis could cause large budget and current account deficits to balloon further. Yet despite the United States' central role in the crisis, the latter part of 2008 saw a rise in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to other currencies, as investors fled from more risky investments into the dollar, which they considered a relative safe haven. Still, concerns remain about a long-term decline in U.S. power and influence. Washington has also served as one of the main coordinators for the international response to the crisis. Then U.S. President George W. Bush, along with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, called the first in a series of G-20 heads-of-state meetings responding to the crisis, hosting a summit in Washington in November 2008. Then, ahead of an April 2009 follow-up summit, U.S. President Barack Obama made a strong push for a coordinated global increase in stimulus spending, though he met pressure from Germany, France, and other countries on this front, and the April meetings did not produce agreement on stimulus.
The following is a list of resources on how the crisis has affected the United States.
The Seeds of Disaster
The Bailout Plan
Picking Up the Pieces
Long-Term Ramifications
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Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
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The report of this bipartisan Task Force of distinguished leaders and experts represents a strong consensus on the importance of repairing America's immigration policy. It makes the case that maintaining America's political and economic leadership depends on attracting talented and hard-working immigrants, and on securing the country's borders in a smart, effective, and humane way.
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Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
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