“I never saw such people”

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Jonathan Dyen
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Grand Narrative ◽  
Literary Response ◽  
Grapes Of Wrath ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Current Economic Crisis

In this essay, I argue that John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath has taken on renewed significance in the midst of the current economic downturn known in the United States as “the Great Recession.” While in the 1930s Steinbeck’s novel offered a way of understanding and responding to the economic conditions of the Depression, today the novel foregrounds the degree to which postmodernism has foreclosed the utopian possibilities of the novel’s grand narrative. I contend that the novel’s methodology can provide a flawed but potent framework for an effective literary response to the current economic crisis.

Local Economic Conditions and Fertility from the Great Depression through the Great Recession

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 ◽  
pp. 236-240
Author(s):  
Jessamyn Schaller ◽  
Price Fishback ◽  
Kelli Marquardt
Keyword(s):  
Great Recession ◽  
Data Model ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dynamic Responses ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Income Shocks ◽  
Entire Sample ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Per Capita

This paper reexamines the association between local economic conditions and fertility using a new dataset of county-level birthrates and per capita income in the United States spanning the period 1937-2016. Using a panel data model, we estimate that growth in local income is positively associated with birthrates over our entire sample period and that the strength of that association peaked during the 1960-1990 period and has declined in recent decades. We additionally estimate dynamic responses to local income shocks, finding that birthrates remain elevated for up to four years after a shock.

The Great Recession, Inequality, and Health: An Integrative Approach

2018 ◽  
pp. 498-512
Author(s):  
Julie A. Kirsch ◽  
Carol D. Ryff
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Psychological Influences ◽  
Historically Situated ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Advance Knowledge

Biopsychosocial integration requires attentiveness to changing historical contexts. The Great Recession of 2007–2009 is regarded as the most severe economic downturn since the 1930s and has contributed to the growing American problem of inequality. To advance knowledge of the human consequences of the Great Recession and growing inequalities, integrative approaches are needed. This chapter summarizes conceptual frameworks that address the ways the Great Recession has exacerbated US problems of inequality and for whom. In light of these frameworks and using data from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) baseline and Refresher samples, a historically situated inquiry into whether life in America looks worse in the Great Recession aftermath is presented. Findings on inequality in recession hardships, health vulnerabilities, and psychological influences are reviewed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of additional domains of assessment about Great Recession impacts that can be pursued with MIDUS.

scholarly journals A fuzzy set approach to economic crisis, austerity and public health. Part I. European countries’ conformity to ideal types during the economic downturn

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (18_suppl) ◽  
pp. 41-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Saltkjel ◽  
Mari Holm Ingelsrud ◽  
Espen Dahl ◽  
Knut Halvorsen
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Fuzzy Set ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ideal Types ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Current Economic Crisis ◽  
Welfare Generosity

Aims: This is the first part of a two-part paper that takes an explorative approach to assess crisis and austerity in European countries during the Great Recession. The ultimate aim of this two-part paper is to explore the “crisis–austerity” thesis by Stuckler and Basu and assess whether it is the interplay between austerity and crisis, rather than the current economic crisis per se, that can led to deterioration in population health. In Part I of this paper we offer one way of operationalizing crisis severity and austerity. We examine countries as specific configurations of crisis and policy responses and classify European countries into “ideal types.” Methods: Cases included were 29 countries participating in the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) surveys. Based on fuzzy set methodology, we constructed two fuzzy sets, “austerity” and “severe crisis.” Austerity was measured by changes in welfare generosity; severe crisis was measured by changes in gross domestic product (GDP) per capita growth. Results: In the initial phase of the Great Recession, most countries faced severe crisis combined with no austerity. From 2010–2011 onward, there was a divide between countries. Some countries consistently showed signs of austerity policies (with or without severe crisis); others consistently did not. Conclusions: The fuzzy set ideal-type analysis shows that the European countries position themselves, by and large, in configurations of crisis and austerity in meaningful ways that allow us to explore the “crisis–austerity” thesis by Stuckler and Basu. This exploration is the undertaking of Part II of this paper.

scholarly journals Schooling During the Great Recession: Patterns of School Spending and Student Achievement Using Population Data

AERA Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 233285841987743 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Shores ◽  
Matthew P. Steinberg
Keyword(s):  
Student Achievement ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
English Language ◽  
Population Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Great Depression ◽  
Education Data ◽  
Using Data

The Great Recession was the most severe economic downturn in the United States since the Great Depression. Using data from the Stanford Education Data Archive (SEDA), we describe the patterns of math and English language arts (ELA) achievement for students attending schools in communities differentially affected by recession-induced employment shocks. Employing a difference-in-differences strategy that leverages both cross-county variation in the economic shock of the recession and within-county, cross-cohort variation in school-age years of exposure to the recession, we find that declines in student math and ELA achievement were greater for cohorts of students attending school during the Great Recession in communities most adversely affected by recession-induced employment shocks, relative to cohorts of students that entered school after the recession had officially ended. Moreover, declines in student achievement were larger in school districts serving more economically disadvantaged and minority students. We conclude by discussing potential policy responses.

scholarly journals The Great Recession’s Effect on Entrepreneurship

2011 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Scott Shane
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Gross Domestic Product ◽  
Great Depression ◽  
Unemployment Rate ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
The United States ◽  
Domestic Product ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Great Depression

Between December 2007 and June 2009, the United States suffered its biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression. Dubbed the Great Recession, this economic contraction saw gross domestic product decline 4 percent and the unemployment rate more than double from 4.9 percent to 10.1 percent.

Disruptive Soft Law and Post-Crisis US Reform

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abraham L. Newman ◽  
Elliot Posner
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
Great Recession ◽  
Regulatory Reform ◽  
The United States ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
Long Term Effects ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
The Us ◽  
International Interaction

Chapter 6 examines the long-term effects of international soft law on policy in the United States since 2008. The extent and type of post-crisis US cooperation with foreign jurisdictions have varied considerably with far-reaching ramifications for international financial markets. Focusing on the international interaction of reforms in banking and derivatives, the chapter uses the book’s approach to understand US regulation in the wake of the Great Recession. The authors attribute seemingly random variation in the US relationship to foreign regulation and markets to differences in pre-crisis international soft law. Here, the existence (or absence) of robust soft law and standard-creating institutions determines the resources available to policy entrepreneurs as well as their orientation and attitudes toward international cooperation. Soft law plays a central role in the evolution of US regulatory reform and its interface with the rest of the world.

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