Business Basics
Recession causes
Economic indicators
Government fixes
Recovery and impact
100

This phase happens when the economy slows down and businesses  make less money

What is the recession?

100

This specific economic anomaly peaked on March 10, 2000, before its catastrophic burst dragged down the tech-heavy Nasdaq index. 

What is the dot-com bubble?

100

This measures the total value of goods and services produced in the country

What if GDP?

100

The Federal Reserve lowered these to help the economy grow again

What arte interest rates?

100

Although the 2001 recession officially lasted only eight months, the subsequent recovery was widely criticized for lacking job growth, earning it this two-word nickname.

What is a jobless recovery?

200

In the late 1990s, these high-risk investors poured billions into unproven tech companies, only to pull back sharply when the market turned.

What are venture capitalists?

200

Many technology companies lost money after this bubble burst

What is the dot-com bubble?

200

During the 2001 recession, this economic indicator increased because many people lost jobs

What is unemployment?

200

To stimulate borrowing, the Federal Reserve aggressively cut this specific interest rate 11 times in 2001, dropping it to a historic low of 1.75%.

What is the federal funds rate?

200

Even after the recession ended, many people still struggled to find these

What are jobs?

300

Many failed tech firms of 2001 burned through their cash despite launching these, a company's very first sale of stock to the general public.

What is an Initial Public Offering (IPO)?

300

These attacks in the September 2001 hurt consumer confidence and the economy

What are the 9/11 terrorist attacks?

300

A recession is traditionally, though unofficially, defined as two consecutive quarters of decline in this comprehensive measure of national economic output.

What is Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?

300

Tax cuts are an example of this type of policy

What is fiscal policy?

300

Following the high-profile bankruptcies of tech giants like WorldCom, Congress passed this 2002 act to drastically reform corporate accounting and auditing rules.

What is the Sarbanes-Oxley Act?

400

The 2001 recession was heavily driven by the overvaluation of startups using this generic two-word suffix in their internet addresses.

What is dot-com?

400

Beyond the tech crash, the 2001 downturn was severely worsened by the economic shockwaves of these historic autumn events.

What are the September 11 terrorist attacks?

400

During the 2001 recession, this major tech index lost roughly 78% of its value from its peak, signaling a massive destruction of paper wealth.

What is the Nasdaq Composite?

400

Signed into law by President George W. Bush in June 2001, EGTRRA was a massive package centered on this type of fiscal relief to spur consumer spending.

What is a tax cut?

400

While the broader economy recovered relatively quickly, it famously took over a decade for this specific stock market index to finally return to its March 2000 peak. 

 What is the Nasdaq?

500

This organization decides when recessions officially begin and end in the U.S.

What is the National Bureau of Economic Research, or NBER?

500

Prior to the crash, this independent government agency aggressively raised interest rates to cool off an overheating economy, inadvertently tightening capital.

 What is the Federal Reserve?

500

Often lagging behind other metrics, this indicator rose as companies like Amazon and Cisco shed large portions of their workforce to survive the crash.

What is the unemployment rate?

500

Following the 9/11 attacks, Congress quickly approved billions of dollars in emergency funding for this specific sector to prevent a total collapse of commercial travel.

What is the airline industry?



500

The low interest rates used to fix the 2001 recession inadvertently diverted speculative capital out of stocks and into this sector, setting the stage for the 2008 financial crisis.

What is the housing market (or real estate sector)?