Economic Stimulus and Fiscal Policy
Between June 2007 and November 2008, Americans lost a total of $8.3 trillion in wealth between housing and stock market losses, contributing to a decline in consumer spending and business investment. The crisis has caused unemployment to rise and GDP to decline at a significant annual rate during Q4 2008.
On 13 February 2008, former President George W. Bush signed into law a $168 billion economic stimulus package, mainly taking the form of income tax rebate checks mailed directly to taxpayers. Checks were mailed starting the week of 28 April 2008.
On 17 February 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), an $800 billion stimulus package with a broad spectrum of spending and tax cuts.
Read more about this topic: Subprime Mortgage Crisis Solutions Debate
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