A Tale of Economies
Work with a partner to explore these two slide shows to see how the Great Recession of 2008 impacted the world.
The first slide show from GEDVIZ tracks trade for iron and steel, petroleum oil, and cars between the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Canada, and Mexico.
Look through the slide show by selecting the labels on the right to see the progression of trade over time. Answer the following questions:
Which product (iron/steel, oil, or cars) "recovered" (increased back to an amount before recession) the fastest?
Which product was the slowest to "recover"?
When you look at the data regarding import/export of petroleum oil, does anything surprise you? If so, what?
Select a different product from the list (top left). Then, compare the 2008 import/export numbers to the 2009 numbers. Do they keep with the same trend that you saw in the other three?
- If it does not keep with the same trend, why do you think it does not?
How does this slide show help you see the impact of the Great Recession on the United States?
In the second slide show from GEDVIZ tracks the trade for iron/steel and cars for Greece, Latvia, and Iceland. Although the "connections" (arrows between the countries) do not demonstrate a great deal, the bars for each country provide a visual of the decline in each economy.
Look through the slide show by selecting the labels on the right to see the progression of the decline over time. Answer the following questions:
What do you notice about the years after the recession?
Compare the first slide show to the second slide show. Why do you think the years after the recession for these three countries is so different than the recovery for the countries in the first slide show?
How does this slide show help you see the impact of the Great Recession on three of the countries that were hardest hit?