Photo Gallery The Global Downturn
As the world economy surged and sank throughout the decade, Wall Street traders became the subject of intense scrutiny.
Investment bank Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008, a vivid symbol of the risks and failures of America's financial game-playing.
At the beginning of the decade, the stock market was seen as a sure thing. German electronics giant Siemens began selling its shares on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2001.
America's stock exchanges were rattled early by the attacks on New York in 2001. Here, NASDAQ CEO Hardwick Simmons speaks during a ceremony on Sept. 17, 2001.
World leaders met in Pittsburgh at a G-20 summit in 2009 to discuss the global economic situation.
Sub-prime mortgages extended to people with bad credit were partly to blame for the economic shocks that arrived in 2008. "For Sale" signs became a grim symptom of national malaise.
Job fairs attracted thousands of unemployed Americans as the economy continued to flounder.
