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Financial Crisis of 2008: President

A starting point for students researching the U.S. financial crisis of 2008. Includes primary, secondary, and government information sources.

Popular Reading

NOTE: These books were written for a wide audience and are likely to come from a specific ideological perspective. While they are not scholarly, they may be useful in tracking popular perceptions of the recent presidential work related to the economy, for example.

For more books on the role of the President in economic policy making, please search the Library Catalog.

Economic Affairs

Economic Reports of the President

An annual publication from the President's Council of Economic Advisors, the ERP is the "best and easiest place to find time-series of economic data about the nation" (Forte, et al. 300). The volumes from 2008 to 2011 all include pertinent economic information regarding the financial crisis.

Quote: Forte, Eric J., et al. (2011). Fundamentals of Government Information: Mining, Finding, Evaluating, and Using Government Resources. Neal-Schuman Publishers, Inc.

Primary Sources

Compilation of Presidential Documents

The Government Printing Office manages an online depository  of government produced information. For a collection of primary source documents of the U.S. Presidents, search the Compilation of Presidential Documents. Materials include proclamations, executive orders, speeches, press conferences and among many other formats. A good resource for past and current Presidents.

Use the FDsys advanced search to look within the collection for keywords related to the financial crisis.

  • From the list of "Available Collections," select "Compilation of Presidential Documents"
  • Click on the "Add >>" button
  • Near the bottom, type in a keyword to search the collection

WhiteHouse.Gov -- Briefing Room

The White House Briefing Room is a good place to find text and video of presidential speeches, weekly addresses, press briefings, and disclosures from the current administration.

Miller Center of the University of Virginia: American Presidents

A research institute that currates U.S. Presidential documents from Washington to present. A good, user-friendly resource for speeches, public, and private papers of the President. 

SEC

The Securities and Exchange Commission is the federal agency that regulates the nation's stock market exchanges and securities trading. During the financial crisis, people looked to this agency for answers about how the market could crash under their regulations.

Executive Orders

Archives.Gov

The National Archives and Records Administration organizes PDFs of executive orders from Clinton to Obama by subject. Using the subject index is a good way to quickly locate E.O.s related to the financial sector, the U.S. economy, and international trade.