While the 1970s were not characterized by boom and bust cycles, the 1980s and 1990s certainly were. There were all-time highs and several declines that eventually straightened out. The revitalization of the economy, coupled with pro-business government policy, has created a society of greed and excess. This type of mentality contributed to the most recent economic recession. The 2008 crisis was the result of the actions and inactions of individuals and institutions that sought to make maximum profit at the expense of the financial system. In the 1970s, the United States experienced very little economic growth. Indeed, in 1976, the market was no higher than the level it had been eleven years earlier, and the purchasing power of the average stock had fallen by two-thirds. From 1970 to 1979, the number of Americans who owned stocks fell by seven million. Corporate governance characterized financial culture for much of the 20th century. This principle explained that because company executives only owned nominal amounts of stock, their interests were not aligned with those of their shareholders. Part of what ended this principle and revived interest in stocks was the idea of ​​a takeover, in which a company buys a large stake in a company to lose control of it. Acquisitions weren't the only stimulus to the stagnant market. Leveraged buyouts, debt-financed buyouts, existed in the 1970s, but increased in popularity in the 1980s and were particularly used in conjunction with Milken's junk bonds. With leveraged buyouts (LBOs) and buyouts, corporate executives have become increasingly tied to the stock price, eliminating corporate governance. Furthermore, LBOs became increasingly more indebted in the late 1980s and eventually emerged…middle of the paper…international, not limited to the United States. The International Monetary Fund reported in late 2009 that there were more than $4.1 trillion in toxic assets, with $2.7 trillion coming from the United States alone. One of the consequences of American strength in the global economy has been the negative effects that have impacted the United States' trading partners and the rest of the world. In 2007, those working in the financial sector received total compensation of $53 billion. However, the cost was more than quadruple the amount in toxic assets. This financial crisis should have and could have been avoided. It wasn't inevitable. It only proved that the United States had learned nothing from the Great Depression and subsequent economic recessions. The only thing that can happen now is progress, and future generations can learn from the greed that led the world into the worst economic recession seen since. 1929.