We have been reading The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008 by Paul Krugman. It details our current recession along with past recessions in the United States and other countries such as Japan and Argentina as well. It gives a lot of insight into how the government reacts during recessions and what should and should not be done in such times. It explains why recessions begin and how they could possibly be prevented. Many times, economists have thought they had recessions figured out so one will never occur again; however, a recession has always occurred.

I also found an article on Yahoo! when I was checking one of my emails. I found it very interesting. There are multiple signs of recession. There are, however, a few strange signs.

1. Sites such as Match.com have more people join after a major tragedy such as 9/11 or when the economy is in a recession.

2. More people go to movies. It is a cheap form of entertainment that is outside of the house.

3. Plastic surgery becomes less popular during a recession. Since it is expensive many people choose not to have cosmetic surgeries because it takes away from funds such as for retirement.

More strange signs of an economic recession can be found here.

I am also researching Zimbabwe. The inflation rate in Zimbabwe is 11.2 million percent. The unemployment rate is 80 percent. Robert Mugabe is the president currently. Zimbabwe is in the middle of a housing crisis. Housing was demolished as part of an urban clean up project. Approximately 700,000 people were left homeless. Only 3,300 homes have been built since.