High mortgage rates destroyed the value of mortgage-backed loans, which is the primary asset of the savings and loans association. The fixed-rate loans were sold at a loss in order to balance withdrawals. That asset liability mismatch was identified as the primary cause of the savings and loan crisis. Jobs were lost and unemployment rose from around 7.5% to more than 10%. The recession caused a loss of 2.9 million jobs, representing a 3% drop in payroll employment.
In the wake of the financial crisis of 2008, many department stores struggled and were still able to remain in business while other department stores could not keep afloat and had to close their doors. By the end of 2008 the world 's major economies were in recession. This led to almost two million jobs lost in the U.S. This also resulted in the rate of unemployment rising to 7.2%. Due to the huge amount of layoffs taking place, the monthly income of families were dropping causing for dramatic cutbacks in consumer spending.
(P2.2) It is important that Nordstrom knows in what environment they work in when launching a new store therefore, an environmental audit gives an idea and figure in which the company operates or work. This can be done by a PESTLE analysis. Political Factors Political factors play a significant role in determining the factors that can impact Nordstrom 's long term profitability in a certain country or market. Nordstrom is operating in apparel stores in more than dozen countries and exposes itself to different types of political environment and political system risks. The achieve success in such a dynamic apparel stores industry across various countries is to diversify the systematic risks of political environment.
Core competencies such as quality customer service, superior product quality and a focus on local suppliers are also revealed. Strengths identified led to Whole Food being able to withstand the market giants such as Walmart and Kroger. Whole Foods dedication to be a luxury shopping experience with superior quality food and customer service resulted in the growth of their brand value and expansion into new market areas. Weaknesses of Whole Foods revolve around the high prices that they have become known for. Whole Foods image was hurt by the “Whole Paycheck” reputation and the high prices are limiting Whole Foods from growing their customer base.
Economists have long speculated that women with children work fewer hours and are more likely to take parental leave, also more recent research shows patterns of discrimination against women with children. Economists Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence Katz examined salaries of MBA graduates from top business schools and found that even if men and women had similar earnings at graduation, after a decade men earned 60% more than women. That was an example of young people starting careers with similar levels of earnings, but over time a gender gap appears and grows. Another example is people with the same level of earnings and working the same hours. After 15 years male lawyers earned 55% more than female lawyers.
During the 1920s, before the Great Depression, the United States were living an age of intense social and political change, known as The Roaring Twenties, where the nation’s wealth massively expanded. However, as the Great Depression took place, the American economy incredibly was vastly reduced. Due to this event, the whole society was affected, especially the workers. As the economy slowed down, the workers’ wages were decreased at a point in which they were even struggling to find enough food. Leo Wolman, an important economist during the 1920s and 1930s wrote in one of his articles that, “The wage history of the current depression is of exceptional interest because of the severity of the decline in wages since 1929” (Wolman).
Economic downfall was the effect of the stock market crash that encouraged the cause rapid increase in bank credit and loan. Unemployment rate was squatter of the people were unemployed (Doc C). During 1915 and 1935 about 4000 bank were suspended
Today, this issue is due to many more reasons than the dust bowl ruining many things. Focusing on America, our population has grown insanely high since the “dirty thirties”. While population has risen, so have prices. The price on many, many products have gone up in the last decade, making people with a lower pay struggle with living. It’s crazy how many people are unemployed in the US right now and with people believing there will be an 80% stock market crash in 2016, things could only get worse.
Looking back to the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s and into the 21st century we have seen change like we have never seen before. In the 70’s and 80’s things in Ireland were disastrous for people looking too work as the economy was in a bad state. This was due to industrial disputes and inflation from oil around the world. Emigration was at its highest in years. There was massive borrowing and high tax rates as well as abolition of car tax had an impact of the economy.
In the year 2012, studies showed that “approximately 6.24 million people in the United States were unemployed” (“Who are the Unemployed?”), but the unemployment rate is still increasing. The effects of unemployment today are steadily rising, therefore draining the health of the economy nation wide. Welfare programs, minimum wage, and a lack of education lead to unemployment and therefore negatively affect the United States. Unemployment rates during the 1930s dramatically spiked due to a well known economic event that changed United States history, and the rates never returned back to a steady rate. It was the stock-market crash of October 1929 that signaled the slide into the pit.