Graph of the Economy:
- The unemployment rate at the end of the decase was 4%
- With the recession in 1990 personal incomes doubled
- There was a great reduction in poverty rates after the 1996 Welfare Reform Act
- From 1999 to 2001 the Wall Street stock exchange stayed over the 10,000 mark
- The graph shows the increase in The GDP graph above shows the Gross Domestic Product increasing from the start of the decade to 2002
NAFTA(North American Free Trade Agreement):
- Phases out trade obstructions among the United States, Canada and Mexico
- There were many leaders such as Canadian Prime Minister named Brian Mulroney, George H. W. Bush, and Mexican President Carlos Salinas De Gortari of Mexico
- It was signed in 1992 by three countries and those countries awaited ratification
- NAFTA was a stern political importance made by Clinton
- In 1993 it was passed by the House of Representatives after a governmental discussion
- The senate passed NAFTA in 1993 on the last day of their session
- The increase in inequality was caused due to NAFTA and also has not worked well enough to create a united economy among the three countries
1996 Welfare Reform:
- The Welfare Reform Bill was signed on August 2, 1996 by President Clinton
- No one could person could obtain welfare for more than five years
- The federal government would issue "blocks" of money to states, and then lets the states distribute it under their own legislation. Some states simply kept the federal rules, while others used the money for non-welfare programs
- Many felt the welfare reform would do extremely well in a booming economy, like the one of the 1900's
- Many felt that the amount of money given out was too small
- Since passed, welfare rolls have dropped significantly (nearly 60%)
- Poverty rates for African American families dropped sharply
- The 1996 welfare reform law was reauthorized in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
Turning the Economy Around:
- Created 22 million new jobs
- Moved nearly 8 million people out of poverty
- The number of employees on non-agricultural payrolls went from 109.7-million in January 1993 (when Clinton took office) to 132.5-million in January 2001 (when Clinton checked out). Net gain: 22.8-million new jobs
- According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people living in poverty went from 38-million in 1992 to 31-million in 2000
- The 1990's were full of economic growth, and some argue it was due to the up-cycle of the economy at the time
- Growth also due to advances in technology
- Speculative market drove the economy in the 1990's
- Speculative market is a market where stocks are rapidly bought and sold