Economic Crisis 2008 and 2009
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==LexisNexis Congressional== | ==LexisNexis Congressional== | ||
===Economic Crisis Backgrounder: The Pecora Investigations=== | ===Economic Crisis Backgrounder: The Pecora Investigations=== | ||
| − | On January 5, 2009, The New York Times published an op-ed article by Ron Chernow entitled Where Is Our Ferdinand Pecora? which highlighted congressional investigations into the "secret financial history of the 1920s" that led to the stock market crash in 1929. From Apr. 11, 1932 until May 4, 1934 the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency held investigations to examine stock exchange practices with respect to the buying, selling, borrowing, and lending of listed securities, the valuation of securities, the effects of trading practices, and banking operations and practices. These investigations were ultimately conducted under the direction of Ferdinand Pecora, the committee’s chief counsel. When the hearings began a Republican President held office; when they were completed a Democrat was President. The issues discussed often pertain to the issues under discussion today, including compensation of chief executives and corporate greed. For example, Albert H. Wiggin, the Chairman of the Governing Board of Chase National Bank, resigned under pressure, but was given a “golden parachute” of $100,000 a year for life. And J.P. Morgan admitted to paying no income tax even though he acknowledged a “substantial participation in the income and profits” of J.P. Morgan and Co. and Drexel and Co. | + | On January 5, 2009, ''The New York Times'' published an op-ed article by Ron Chernow entitled "Where Is Our Ferdinand Pecora?" which highlighted congressional investigations into the "secret financial history of the 1920s" that led to the stock market crash in 1929. From Apr. 11, 1932 until May 4, 1934 the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency held investigations to examine stock exchange practices with respect to the buying, selling, borrowing, and lending of listed securities, the valuation of securities, the effects of trading practices, and banking operations and practices. These investigations were ultimately conducted under the direction of Ferdinand Pecora, the committee’s chief counsel. When the hearings began a Republican President held office; when they were completed a Democrat was President. The issues discussed often pertain to the issues under discussion today, including compensation of chief executives and corporate greed. For example, Albert H. Wiggin, the Chairman of the Governing Board of Chase National Bank, resigned under pressure, but was given a “golden parachute” of $100,000 a year for life. And J.P. Morgan admitted to paying no income tax even though he acknowledged a “substantial participation in the income and profits” of J.P. Morgan and Co. and Drexel and Co. |
LexisNexis Congressional provides access to the testimony and evidence collected during the Pecora investigations.<br>[http://www.amdev.net/docs/congressional/pecora_investigation.pdf Click here] to download a handout on the Pecora investigations. | LexisNexis Congressional provides access to the testimony and evidence collected during the Pecora investigations.<br>[http://www.amdev.net/docs/congressional/pecora_investigation.pdf Click here] to download a handout on the Pecora investigations. | ||
Revision as of 13:31, 14 January 2009
The Economic Crisis of 2008 is believed to have occurred because of global inflation, increased unemployment, high oil and food prices, a declining dollar value, a horrible housing market, and a subprime mortgage crisis. Although economic crisis is happening all over the world, this article will consist of tips on how to research the United States Economic Crisis of 2008 and 2009.
In addition to the research strategies listed for the different products below, the widget to the right contains a scrolling list of the latest business and financial news from a wide variety of sources within LexisNexis. Bookmark this page to see the most recent headlines or click the "Get this widget!" link above to add this widget to your blog or website.
Contents |
LexisNexis Statistical DataSets
The data was collected under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) of 1975, which requires mortgage brokers to report loan applications that they processed or purchased during each calendar year. Beginning in 2004, lenders also had to report on loans they originated that exceeded the prevailing rates by 3% or more, i.e. subprime and near-prime loans.
A little-known Federal agency, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council, maintains the HMDA data but distributes it in preformatted summary tables not easily accessed by the public.
LexisNexis has made all of this data available to subscribers of LexisNexis Statistical Datasets, enabling researchers to identify lenders and geographic areas with a disproportionate share of high-risk mortgage loans.
Interestingly enough, the HMDA data was the subject of a July 2007 hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on discriminatory lending practices. The hearing, which you can find in LN Congressional, is titled Rooting Out Discrimination in Mortgage Lending: Using HMDA as a Tool for Fair Lending Enforcement.
For a demonstration of HMDA data on LexisNexis Statistical DataSets, click on the link below. The person conducting the demo is Richard Landry, the developer of Statistical DataSets.
LexisNexis Congressional
Economic Crisis Backgrounder: The Pecora Investigations
On January 5, 2009, The New York Times published an op-ed article by Ron Chernow entitled "Where Is Our Ferdinand Pecora?" which highlighted congressional investigations into the "secret financial history of the 1920s" that led to the stock market crash in 1929. From Apr. 11, 1932 until May 4, 1934 the Senate Committee on Banking and Currency held investigations to examine stock exchange practices with respect to the buying, selling, borrowing, and lending of listed securities, the valuation of securities, the effects of trading practices, and banking operations and practices. These investigations were ultimately conducted under the direction of Ferdinand Pecora, the committee’s chief counsel. When the hearings began a Republican President held office; when they were completed a Democrat was President. The issues discussed often pertain to the issues under discussion today, including compensation of chief executives and corporate greed. For example, Albert H. Wiggin, the Chairman of the Governing Board of Chase National Bank, resigned under pressure, but was given a “golden parachute” of $100,000 a year for life. And J.P. Morgan admitted to paying no income tax even though he acknowledged a “substantial participation in the income and profits” of J.P. Morgan and Co. and Drexel and Co.
LexisNexis Congressional provides access to the testimony and evidence collected during the Pecora investigations.
Click here to download a handout on the Pecora investigations.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act: Enactment and Beyond
Public Law 110-334, The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, was signed into law on Oct. 3, 2008, with the purpose of “bailing out” the U.S. financial system and addressing concerns about the growing economic crisis. Search LexisNexis Congressional to find out more about the process that led up to the enactment of the law, as well as the ongoing work of Congress to stabilize the economy.
Click here to download a handout with specific search suggestions related to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.
The legislative histories record provides citations regarding debate and publications leading up to enactment of the law. Additional results for hearings, committee prints, and CRS reports detail the ongoing oversight work of Congress, as well as proposals to amend the law to refine the legislative response to the ongoing economic crisis.
Bailout Bill, AIG, and Executive Compensation
On Oct. 7, 2008 during the Presidential debates, Senator John McCain announced that he had come up with a proposal to allow the Federal Government to buy up troubled home mortgages. Immediately following the debate, the television commentators began to discuss whether or not the $700 billion bailout package that had just been enacted into law already included that authority. If you have access to congressional information, you don’t have to wait for the commentators to do their research and report back. You can access the information yourself. Search the full text of the H.R. 1424, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, to read provisions governing residential mortgages and homeowner relief. This bill references and amends the Hope for Homeowners Act of 2008, enacted on July 30, 2008. To find out more about this act, access the legislative history of P.L. 110-289, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. More...
Federal Intervention of the Past and Present
As we seek to understand the current economic crisis, an examination of past Federal assistance to the business and financial sector may help us gain insight. Some government assistance programs enacted during the Great Depression in response to the economic crisis became permanent programs and continued to operate even after the crisis had passed, while other programs were only temporary. More...
LexisNexis Academic
Find information on the United States Economic Crisis of 2008 using news sources from all over the world. Search the News in the PowerSearch form using the index. Listed below are some helpful index terms that will return relevant articles.
- 2008 Economic Stimulus Plan
- 2008 Global Food Crisis
- Bailouts
- Banking & Finance Regulation
- Business Insolvency & Bankruptcy
- Credit Crisis
- Economic Decline
- Economic Depression
- Economic Growth
- Economic Indicators
- Economic News
- Economic Policy
- Economic Recovery
- Housing Market
- Paulson, Henry
- Subprime Mortgages
- Treasury Departments
Tip: When using the index term tool, try looking for specific individuals or companies that interest you. LexisNexis indexes many corporations as well as prominent politicians and business people who have been involved in the crisis. Using these index terms will give you better results than simply typing the name into the search box.
To search only the news about companies, use the Company News group file, which you can locate under the "Sources" tab by searching on "Company News" or use this direct link:
http://www.lexisnexis.com/us/lnacademic/api/version1/sf?shr=t&sfi=AC00NBGenSrch&csi=141066.
For information on a specific company, try Company Dossier: Get A Company Profile or the SEC filings available under the "Business" tab.
LexisNexis UPA Collections
Historical perspective on the 2008 economic crisis can be gained by consulting several LexisNexis UPA Collections on microfilm.
Bush Administration records from the Department of the Treasury, for example, provide documentation on the Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s. Due to poor regulation, fraud, mismanagement, and nonpayment of loans, over one thousand savings and loan institutions failed between 1980 and 1990. In response, early in the Bush administration the Congress passed the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act (FIRREA). Nicholas F. Brady, who replaced James A. Baker III as treasury secretary late in the Ronald Reagan administration, took on additional responsibility as chairman of the Resolution Trust
Corporation Oversight Board. As treasury secretary he was also assigned (by FIRREA) to monitor and report on the financial safety and soundness of governmentsponsored enterprises. Brady claimed that the government must never again allow a
federal insurance fund to become insolvent.
The U.S. National Economy, 1916–1993, Unpublished Documentary Collections from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Part 8: Bush Administration (1989–1992) provides documentation on the Bush administration's handling of the savings and loan crisis.
During the 1970s, American faced economic challenges similar to those of the early 21st century. For information of economic conditions like rising unemployment, high oil prices, rising consumer prices, and inflation, consult U.S. Council of Economic Advisers during the Ford Administration. The fact sheet for this collection can be found here.
Documentation on the bank crisis of the 1930s can be found in The Documentary History of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidency, Vol. 3: The Bank Holiday and the Emergency Banking Act, March 1933.