2010s-+Recession

2000s Music/ Dance

In year 2000, the economy had peaked, and later crashed by 2008. The U.S is now in a recession. People's attitudes changed, and many became depressed. The music in this decade somewhat reflected the economy. Genres such as Country, Teen Pop, Rock, Pop, and Hip-Hop stayed popular. On the other hand, post-grunge was brought into the 21st century with narratives and romantic songs. Adding on, the Emo genre came into mainstream culture. Lastly, adult contemporary music, also known as, soft rock, started to decrease in the beginning of the decade but later came back after 9/11.

Dances in the 2000s didn't reflect the economy very well. They somewhat reflected the recession, with positive, fun dances. Popular dances included; The Running Man, The Clown Walk, Cha-Cha Slide, Chicken Noodle Soup, Crank Dat, The Cupid Shuffle, Shoulder Lean, Peanut Butter Jelly Dance, The Reject, Stanky Leg, and The Jerk.

2000s Sports and Leisurely Activities

In the 2000’s the economy has been in a recession, the unemployment rate has been up to around 9% and jobs have been hard to fight for. A majority of the people’s budgets have had no room for luxury and leisure but only necessities. Because of this sports have been neglected. They are just not a priority of the people at times like this.

Examples of ways the economic recession is affecting sports include things such as which sports are popular to play and watch. Expensive sports such as golf, paintball, or any others with high-end equipment are being neglected by a majority of people. The popular sports have been the most basic and cheap, such as basketball and soccer. This is why less of the media has shown less of the more unique and expensive sports on T.V. In fact in the late 2000s, the NPPL (National Professional Paintball League) could not afford to remain a league and it no longer exists today. Another example is how low ticket sales have been for sports like the NFL, leaving massive stadiums nearly empty. This is a clear example of how a recession in the economy can affect sports and leisurely activivities.

Controversies/ Crisis

During the 2010s a major controversy struck during an already recessive economy. On April 20, 2010, a deepwater drilling rig exploded and released about 4.9 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. This crisis is also known as the BP oil spill. The spill affected much wildlife, damaged the Gulf’s fishing and tourism industry, and of course hurt the already suffering economy.

The oil spill caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is only hurting businesses in areas of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida, but those places represent only 1 percent of the gross domestic product and national employment. However, the spill has caused tourism to suffer because of the fear of oil in the beaches. Tourism brings in a lot of money each year to the economy, so if people aren’t traveling, there isn’t money being put into the economy.

Jobs and Salaries In the early 2000s the economy was in a slow but steady decline. By 2005 the housing market had was very slow and unemployment was on the rise. More and more foreclosures on houses and cars were occurring and the banks were having a tough time just staying a float. In 2008 the first stimulus bill was passed by the bush administration to try to end the recession. During the height of the depression the average salary still rose in the United States. It seemed that employers were just laying off people as opposed to cutting the income of others. In most cases if a person had a good job and could keep it they would not get any kind of a salary cut.

Inventions/Firsts

Modern inventions include Ginger, phone tooth, Youtube, Toyota’s hybrid car. Some of the more futuristic inventions include, Bionic Lens, Flying Windmills and SixthSense. These are all great inventions. Some of these inventions are include in our daily life and some of these are inventions that we never thought to be possible.

Looking at the inventions in the 2000-2010, even thou the economy is on a recession, many great inventions are still being produced. Comparing both decades of inventions, they have both produced some of the greatest inventions. In summaries, the affect of the economy does not have a big impact on people’s creativities and ideas. 2000s Family Life and Housing  In the 2000s, household income growth declined .6% throughout the decade. The Median income fell further for working age households than for all households because job and wage growth was particularly weak in the 2000s relative to past cycles. The poverty rate grew from 11.3% to 12.5% and more people lost their job from the economic crisis. There is a higher divorce rate today than in the 90s and more people hold off getting married too quickly. The average income for a working person above 25 years of age is $43,362.

 Housing in America in the 2000s contained a traditional European style home or modern contemporary home. The homes are usually two story houses that have relatively plain colors, symmetrical rooms, more wall space than window space, and the main center piece is the television. In a typical living room, it consist one couch, one love seat, and one recliner or chair. Home foreclosure has also gone up due to people not being able to pay their mortgage regularly and on time.  2000s Art/Writing  In the early 2000s the art industry was in a terrible state. Shortly after it sales rose again and in the late 2000s it went back down. In the times when the economy was bad street art became more popular. Because less people were visiting galleries, street artists like Mr. Brainwash became very popular in the 2000s. His art was all along the streets of LA. Because the economy could not support big artists many underground artists became popular. Writing in the 21st century definitely changed. In the recession people became more depressed. Books like Harry Potter and Twilight became popular. These books are dark and can be depressing. A movement of darker books became popular. Modern romance novels were also big because they gave people hop in tough times. They provided an escape from the economy.  **Politics/Reform** The new millennium brought great despair because it started out in a recession. George W. Bush spent a large amount of his time in office attempting to salvage what was left of the American economy. The recession was inevitable and Bush tried to restore the economy with a tax reform. The economy hit its lowest in 2008 when Barack Obama was elected President. One of his concerns is to now restore the economy. In the 2000s President Bush tried to boost the economy by giving each family a certain amount of money for them to go out and spend freely. It hade little effect but was worth a shot. President Obama is trying to help the economy by focusing on small businesses and getting them back up on their feet. It’s a slow process to get back on top but in time America will be prosperous again.   Fashion/Fads  Compared to the 90s, the average cost of jeans in the 2000s can depend on where you find your clothing. Since the economy has taken a turn for the worst, many people find it convenient to buy a pair of jeans from walmart from 10 to 25.00. Some people can’t afford expensive brand stores like Hollister and Abercrombie with clothing costing up to 50.00 to ninety dollars. Other expensive brands like Nordstrom have prices ranging from 100 to 200 dollars on clearance. Since staying stylish is still important, now people want to look great while the clothing is cheap. So now we have celebrities that started to come out with clothing that is considered “in” but it’s cheap at the same time since people don’t have the money to shop at expensive stores.