Managing fear against crime in Mexico was estimated to cost around 56.7 billion Mexican pesos in 2023. The total economic impact of fear due to criminality and violence in this Latin American country had remained rather stable in the indicated period prior to 2023, during that last year the estimated cost increased by over 12 billion pesos.

In 2024, a survey of adults in the United States, revealed that over 60 percent of respondents feared their health declining as they age. The possibility of losing loved ones and financial concerns were the next biggest age-related fears, with 52 and 38 percent of respondents expressing these concerns, respectively. This statistic depicts the percentage of adults in the United States with select fears about aging as of 2024.

Introduction: The Russia-Ukraine war brought immediate and delayed socio-economic consequences. All the repercussions, in general, caused fear all over the world. Objective: To validate an instrument for measuring fear perception caused by the consequences of a large-scale war in Latin American citizens. Methodology: Instrumental study, 1705 residents of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru and other countries were surveyed through a virtual format. A literature search, expert judgment, preliminary (then exploratory and confirmatory) analysis, as well as reliability assessment were carried out. Results: It started with 13 questions, the skewness and kurtosis values of the questions did not exceed the range ± 1.5 and showed significant correlations (>0.30). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index (0.962) and Bartlett's test (19558.5; df = 78; p = 0.000) had good indicators. The parallel analysis suggested a single factor, which explained 75.59% of the total variance. The confirmatory factor analysis generated an instrument with six items (χ2 = 47.33, df = 9, p = 0.001; RMR = 0.010; GFI = 0.990; CFI = 1.00; TLI = 0.990; and RMSEA = 0.050), with an overall Cronbach's Alpha = 0.949 (95% CI = 0.94 - 0.95). Conclusion: A six-item instrument that measures the perception of fear caused by the consequences of a large-scale war was validated in half a dozen Latin American countries. This short and valid instrument can be administered to a broad population in Latin America. Date Submitted: 2022-08-13

We develop a quantifiable general equilibrium model of trade and multinational production (MP) in which countries can specialize in innovation or production. Home market effects or comparative advantage leads some countries to specialize in innovation and relegate manufacturing operations to other countries via outward MP. Counterfactual analysis reveals that the reduction in the cost of MP or the integration of China into the world economy may hurt countries that are driven to specialize in production, although these losses tend to be very small. Contrary to popular fears, production workers gain even in countries that further specialize in innovation.

The Global Financial Crisis of 2008-09 was a period of severe macroeconomic instability for the United States and the global economy more generally. The crisis was precipitated by the collapse of a number of financial institutions who were deeply involved in the U.S. mortgage market and associated credit markets. Beginning in the Summer of 2007, a number of banks began to report issues with increasing mortgage delinquencies and the problem of not being able to accurately price derivatives contracts which were based on bundles of these U.S. residential mortgages. By the end of 2008, U.S. financial institutions had begun to fail due to their exposure to the housing market, leading to one of the deepest recessions in the history of the United States and to extensive government bailouts of the financial sector.

Subprime and the collapse of the U.S. mortgage market

The early 2000s had seen explosive growth in the U.S. mortgage market, as credit became cheaper due to the Federal Reserve's decision to lower interest rates in the aftermath of the 2001 'Dot Com' Crash, as well as because of the increasing globalization of financial flows which directed funds into U.S. financial markets. Lower mortgage rates gave incentive to financial institutions to begin lending to riskier borrowers, using so-called 'subprime' loans. These were loans to borrowers with poor credit scores, who would not have met the requirements for a conventional mortgage loan. In order to hedge against the risk of these riskier loans, financial institutions began to use complex financial instruments known as derivatives, which bundled mortgage loans together and allowed the risk of default to be sold on to willing investors. This practice was supposed to remove the risk from these loans, by effectively allowing credit institutions to buy insurance against delinquencies. Due to the fraudulent practices of credit ratings agencies, however, the price of these contacts did not reflect the real risk of the loans involved. As the reality of the inability of the borrowers to repay began to kick in during 2007, the financial markets which traded these derivatives came under increasing stress and eventually led to a 'sudden stop' in trading and credit intermediation during 2008.

Market Panic and The Great Recession

As borrowers failed to make repayments, this had a knock-on effect among financial institutions who were highly leveraged with financial instruments based on the mortgage market. Lehman Brothers, one of the world's largest investment banks, failed on September 15th 2008, causing widespread panic in financial markets. Due to the fear of an unprecedented collapse in the financial sector which would have untold consequences for the wider economy, the U.S. government and central bank, The Fed, intervened the following day to bailout the United States' largest insurance company, AIG, and to backstop financial markets. The crisis prompted a deep recession, known colloquially as The Great Recession, drawing parallels between this period and The Great Depression. The collapse of credit intermediation in the economy lead to further issues in the real economy, as business were increasingly unable to pay back loans and were forced to lay off staff, driving unemployment to a high of almost 10 percent in 2010. While there has been criticism of the U.S. government's actions to bailout the financial institutions involved, the actions of the government and the Fed are seen by many as having prevented the crisis from spiraling into a depression of the magnitude of The Great Depression.

Graph and download economic data for Dates of U.S. recessions as inferred by GDP-based recession indicator (JHDUSRGDPBR) from Q4 1967 to Q3 2024 about recession indicators, GDP, and USA.

This article sets recent expressions of alarm about the monopoly power of technology giants such as Google and Amazon in the long history of Americans' response to big business. I argue that we cannot understand that history unless we realize that Americans have always been concerned about the political and economic dangers of bigness, not just the threat of high prices. The problem policymakers faced after the rise of Standard Oil was how to protect society against those dangers without punishing firms that grew large because they were innovative. The antitrust regime put in place in the early twentieth century managed this balancing act by focusing on large firms' conduct toward competitors and banning practices that were anticompetitive or exclusionary. Maintaining this balance was difficult, however, and it gave way over time—first to a preoccupation with market power during the post–World War II period, and then to a fixation on consumer welfare in the late twentieth century. Refocusing policy on large firms' conduct would do much to address current fears about bigness without penalizing firms whose market power comes from innovation.

By November 2025, it is projected that there is a probability of 33.56 percent that the United States will fall into another economic recession. This reflects a significant decrease from the projection of the preceding month.

The main stock market index in the United States (US500) decreased 176 points or 2.99% since the beginning of 2025, according to trading on a contract for difference (CFD) that tracks this benchmark index from United States. United States Stock Market Index - values, historical data, forecasts and news - updated on March of 2025.

Graph and download economic data for St. Louis Fed Financial Stress Index (STLFSI4) from 1993-12-31 to 2025-03-14 about FSI and USA.

In December 2024, 11 percent of survey respondents said that the most important problem facing the United States was the high cost of living and inflation. Another 20percent said that the government and poor leadership was the most serious concern for the nation.

Between 1946 and 1961, the United States distributed over 25 billion U.S. dollars to Asian countries in the form of loans or grants. 17 billion was given in the form of economic assistance, while 8.3 billion was given as military assistance. Of this 25 billion billion, almost 19 billion came during the period between 1953 and 1961, as Asia became the focal point of the U.S.' efforts to contain the spread of communism across the globe. Apart from Japan (occupied by the U.S. following WWII) and the Philippines (became independent from the U.S. in 1946) all other countries received the majority of their loans and grants in the Mutual Security Act period. Korea The largest sum, totaling at over five billion dollars (3.2 billion in economic assistance and 1.8 billion in military assistance), was paid to South Korea. The U.S. has had a permanent presence on the peninsula since the Second World War, and made up the bulk of the UN's forces during the Korean War (1950-1953). Following the war, the U.S. maintained a military presence in South Korea due to the perceived threat of North Korea, an as an additional power base in East Asia. Taiwan The second largest sum was paid to Taiwan. Between the Second World War and 1979, the United States was politically aligned with and financially supported the government in Taiwan. During this time the U.S. had a military presence on the island and officially recognized the Taiwanese government as the official government of China. Taiwan became strategically important during the Korean War, during which the U.S. increased its military presence and investment in the island, in fear of an invasion from the mainland by the People's Republic of China. Following the Sino-Soviet split in the 1960s, the U.S. gradually improved its relationship with the government the People's Republic of China; in 1979, the U.S. changed its stance and officially recognized the Chinese government in Beijing as the legitimate government of China, and largely withdrew from Taiwan.

Halloween is a widely celebrated tradition in the United States, with around 70 percent of Americans planning to participate in Halloween celebrations in 2024. In 2020, planned participation fell noticeably, likely as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Halloween is celebrated in the United States in various ways, with trick-or-treating and pumpkin carving being two of the most popular Halloween activities. This is Halloween Halloween is celebrated around the world on October 31. Given the spooky themes of the event, it is also a popular time of year for horror and slasher movies, with many movies of this genre released in time for the Halloween season. Many believe that the origins of Halloween date back to the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, which marked the end of summer and the harvest season as well as the beginning of winter. It is a time of year often associated with death, as some people believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead become blurred. They celebrated this night as they believed it would ensure people and their livestock would survive the harsh and cold winter. Halloween in the United States Halloween generates a substantial amount of money for the U.S. economy, as Americans spend significant sums over the Halloween season. In 2024, U.S. consumers planned to spend an overall total of more than 11.5 billion U.S. dollars on Halloween. The majority of consumers’ money goes towards the purchase of costumes, decorations, and candy.

According to a survey from late December 2024, the two most important issues among Republican voters in the United States were inflation and immigration, with 25 and 22 percent ranking it their primary political concerns respectively. In contrast, only two percent of Democrats considered immigration their most important issue. Inflation and healthcare were the leading issues among democrats in the U.S.