The Dot Com Bubble and the Great Recession
The 1990s was a period of economic growth. Aided by Bill Clinton's post-inflation economic policy, interest rates were considerably low. This lead to a mass proliferation of startup companies, which did business almost exclusively on the internet, or dot com companies. Many of these companies had goals that were far too ambitious, but investors, drawn in by the novelty of the dot com company, put their faith in these goals. This created a stock market bubble, or a massive rise in share prices for these dot com companies, with no real backing. Naturally, when these companies failed to meet their goals, the bubble burst, and stock prices plunged. Sweat shows the effect of the burst bubble on the stock market, in their little scene builders, showing how the DOW falls " a record 617-point drop.. after the tech bubble bursts". It is no surprise, that this is precedes the chapter with the greatest economic turmoil, wherein Tracey realizes that Oscar and other immigrant...