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The Daily Insight Hub

How does money disappear in a recession?

Author

William Jenkins

Updated on February 17, 2026

2) When there is an economic recession the public stop spending as much (why this happens is another discussion), so borrowers stop getting revenue and default on their loans. The asset (a debt security) issued by the lending bank is now worthless and written off.

Who made money off the Great Recession?

John Paulson His hedge fund firm, Paulson & Co., made $20 billion on the trade between 2007 and 2009 driven by its bets against subprime mortgages through credit default swaps, according to The Wall Street Journal. Paulson’s personal earnings were about $4 billion in that time period.

What happens to your money if the economy collapses?

If the U.S. economy collapses, you would likely lose access to credit. Banks would close. Demand would outstrip supply of food, gas, and other necessities. If the collapse affected local governments and utilities, then water and electricity might no longer be available.

What caused the 2008 credit crisis?

First, low-interest rates and low lending standards fueled a housing price bubble and encouraged millions to borrow beyond their means to buy homes they couldn’t afford. The banks and subprime lenders kept up the pace by selling their mortgages on the secondary market in order to free up money to grant more mortgages.

Where did all the money go when the stock market crashes?

When a stock tumbles and an investor loses money, the money doesn’t get redistributed to someone else. Essentially, it has disappeared into thin air, reflecting dwindling investor interest and a decline in investor perception of the stock.

How much wealth disappears due to the stock market crash?

On October 24, 1929, a day that came to be known as Black Thursday, investors began to sell their stocks at an alarming rate. By October 29, the Great Crash was underway, and by November 17, over $30 billion dollars had disappeared from the U.S. economy.

What would cause an economic collapse?

Persistent trade deficits, wars, revolutions, famines, depletion of important resources, and government-induced hyperinflation have been listed as causes. In some cases blockades and embargoes caused severe hardships that could be considered economic collapse.

What are the effects of the credit crunch?

At its simplest, the crunch is a crisis caused by banks being too nervous to lend money to us, businesses or each other. That means low interest rates and pain for investors as stock markets fluctuate wildly and, in the worst cases, people face repossession and bankruptcy. Advertisement.

When did the credit crunch start and end?

Its business model relied on it being able to borrow money from other banks and investors, and that was no longer possible in the panic-stricken conditions of August 2007, when none of the banks trusted each other.

When did the credit crunch start for Northern Rock?

The writing was on the wall for Northern Rock from the moment the markets turned sour on 9 August. Its business model relied on it being able to borrow money from other banks and investors, and that was no longer possible in the panic-stricken conditions of August 2007, when none of the banks trusted each other.

When did the financial crisis start and end?

A standard measure of uncertainty – commonly known as the index of “financial fear” – has more than doubled since the sub-prime crisis began to emerge in August 2007. Work by Nick Bloom at Stanford University in California has shown that even the temporary surges in uncertainty that followed previous shocks had destructive effects.