The 2008-2009 U.S. stock market crash saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunge 54% in 17 months.
Housing prices fell 30% from their 2006 peak. The unemployment rate doubled from 5% (7 million Americans unemployed) pre-crisis in 2008, to 10% by the end of 2009 (15 million). And U.S. debt rose from 66% gross domestic product (GDP) to 103% from 2008 to 2012.
To blame was a systemic breakdown that encompassed Wall Street and Washington.