The U.S. construction industry is so intertwined with the well-being of the economy as a whole that even a hiccup in one can quickly cause nausea in the other. Consider that in 2006 there were $689 billion worth of construction starts. By the end of last year, that number dropped by $134 billion. When so much money is pulled off the table, the repercussions bounce around the globe. Architects make up a tiny part of this massive food chain, but that doesn’t matter if you have been laid off, are laying people off, or know people who are.
But one could think of today’s recession and the three that preceded it (1980–82, 1989–93, and 2000–02) as descendents of the crisis of 1973–75. Then, OPEC’s quadrupling of oil prices, the cost of the Viet Nam war, and high inflation drove the economy into its most severe recession since the Depression. (View key figures from past recessions) These periods of economic crisis share familial characteristics. By parsing their DNA and finding the traits they share, one may be surprised to find there are reasons to be optimistic now.
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