Deck 16: Comparing the Great Recession and the COVID-19 Recession: Causes, Responses, and Effects

Question 1

Which of the following is the single most commonly cited unemployment statistic that signals the direction and magnitude of change in the job market?

A) Number of individuals employed in manufacturing
B) Total number of individuals employed as a percentage of the workforce
C) New claims for unemployment benefits
D) Unemployment rate

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following usually cited as a proximate cause of the economic collapse in the Great Recession (2007-2009)?

A) Collapse of the job market
B) Collapse of the housing and mortgage markets
C) Collapse in personal consumption expenditures
D) Collapse in government spending
E) All of these are correct.

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Which of the following is usually cited as a proximate cause of the economic collapse in the COVID-19 Recession?

A) Immediate and massive unemployment due to stay at home/shutdown
B) Immediate, sharp drop in personal consumption
C) Both immediate and massive unemployment due to stay at home/shutdown and immediate, sharp drop in personal consumption
D) None of these is correct.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Which of the following was the initial federal response to the economic impact of the COVID-19 Recession?

A) Financial support to businesses, small and large, to cover some of their commercial losses
B) Financial support to shore up losses of personal income to individuals/households
C) Both financial support to businesses, small and large, to cover some of their commercial losses and financial support to shore up losses of personal income to individuals/households

Question 5

Initial (first and second quarter 2020) fiscal policy actions to combat the COVID-19 Recession included which of the following?

A) Funding for large infrastructure projects to create jobs
B) Financial assistance to state and local governments to make up for revenue losses
C) Support to individuals/households directly affected by health costs of COVID-19 infection
D) All of these are correct.
E) None of these is correct.

Question 6

COVID-19 Recession responses in the first two quarters included legislation to reduce corporate and personal income taxes.

Question 7

Monetary policy tools employed in the COVID-19 Recession were pretty much the same as those employed in the Great Recession.

Question 8

The political situations in the Great Recession and the COVID-19 Recession were both characterized by deep partisan divides and great difficulty in getting cooperation from the Republican and Democratic parties to pass legislation and take other actions to combat the recessions.

Question 9

Generally, a return to growth in GDP signals an end to the main negative effects of a recession, as it did in the Great Recession and likely will in the COVID-19 Recession.

Question 10

Decline in residential investment was a major feature of the Great Recession and also was a major economic factor early in the COVID-19 Recession.

Question 11

What were the reasons the National Bureau of Economic Research declared a recession mid-way through the second quarter of 2020, much earlier than a formal declaration of a recession might be made?

Question 12

Which main economic activities were severely affected almost immediately (in a matter of weeks) in the COVID-19 Recession?

Question 13

What are the four major components of GDP regularly tracked by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. Department of Commerce that show which segments of the economy contribute to economic change during a specific time period?