Early 1990s recession

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The early 1990s recession describes the period of economic downturn affecting much of the Western world in the early 1990s. The impacts of the recession contributed in part to the 1992 U.S. presidential election victory of Bill Clinton over incumbent president George H. W. Bush. The recession also included the resignation of Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, the reduction of active companies by 15% and unemployment up to nearly 20% in Finland, civil disturbances in the United Kingdom and the growth of discount stores in the United States and beyond.

Primary factors believed to have led to the recession include the following: restrictive monetary policy enacted by central banks, primarily in response to inflation concerns, the loss of consumer and business confidence as a result of the 1990 oil price shock,^[1] the end of the Cold War and the subsequent decrease in defense spending,^[2] the savings and loan crisis and a slump in office construction resulting from overbuilding during the 1980s.^[3] The US economy returned to 1980s level growth by 1993^[4] and global GDP growth by 1994.^[5]