The Great Recession in the United States was a severe economic downturn that began in December 2007 and lasted until June 2009. It was one of the worst economic crises in American history, and it had a profound impact on the country's economy, as well as on the lives of millions of people.

The Great Recession was triggered by the collapse of the U.S. housing market, which had been fueled by a boom in housing prices and a proliferation of risky mortgages. In the years leading up to the recession, many Americans had taken out adjustable-rate mortgages with low initial interest rates, but as housing prices began to decline and interest rates rose, many borrowers found themselves owing more on their mortgages than their homes were worth. As a result, defaults and foreclosures began to rise, and many banks and financial institutions were left holding large amounts of bad mortgages and other risky assets.

The crisis in the housing market soon spread to the broader economy. As the value of assets held by banks and other financial institutions fell, many firms became insolvent, and some even went bankrupt. Credit markets froze up as lenders became increasingly risk-averse, making it difficult for businesses and consumers to borrow the money they needed to invest, buy homes, or make other major purchases. At the same time, unemployment began to rise, as businesses laid off workers and cut back on spending.

In response to the crisis, the U.S government and the Federal Reserve implemented a range of measures to try to stabilize the economy. The government bailed out several large financial institutions and passed a stimulus package to try to stimulate economic growth. The Federal Reserve also cut interest rates to near zero, and implemented several unconventional monetary policies, such as quantitative easing, to try to stabilize the economy.

Despite these efforts, however, the Great Recession continued to take a heavy toll on the economy and on American society. The unemployment rate rose to a peak of 10% in October 2009, and many Americans lost their homes and their savings. The recession also had a significant impact on the federal budget and on the country's debt, as the government's stimulus spending and the cost of bank bailouts added trillions of dollars to the federal debt. Additionally, GDP dropped by 4.3% in 2008 and further by 2.8% in 2009.

It took several years for the economy to fully recover from the Great Recession. The unemployment rate eventually fell, and the economy began to grow again, but the recovery was slow and uneven. Some experts argue that the policies implemented by the government and the Fed prevented a deeper economic depression, but the impact of the recession was felt by many people for years to come, and it highlighted the fragility of the financial system and the need for better regulation and oversight.