businesses failed, unable to transition into a peacetime economy. Also, the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918–20 brought economic activity to a standstill as even more people became incapacitated. Most developed countries had mostly recovered by 1921–22, however Germany saw its economy crippled until 1923–24 because of the hyperinflation crisis. The 1973 oil crisis, coupled with the rising costs of maintenance of welfare state in most countries led to a recession between 1973 and 1975, followed by a period of almost minimal growth and rising inflation and unemployment. The 1980–82 recession marked the end of the period. The savings & loans and the leveraged buyout crises led to a severe depression in mid-to-late 1989, causing a recession in 1990–91 (also fueled by the oil price crisis), whose effects lasted as late as 1994. This downturn is more remembered for its political effects: British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had to resign in November 1990; and while his approval ratings were above 60%, U.S. President George H. W. Bush lost the 1992 election to Bill Clinton because of the domestic malady marked by the depression and increasing urban decay. In 2005, the persistent oil price rises and economic overheating caused by deregulation led to a gradual deterioration of the world economy with inflation and unemployment rising as growth slowed: The housing bubble in the U.S. burst in 2007, and the American economy slipped into a recession. This, in turn, provoked the failure of many prominent financial institutions throughout 2008, most notably Lehman Brothers, leading to the loss of millions of jobs. Regional Several Latin American countries had severe downturns in the 1980s: by the Kehoe and Prescott definition of a great depression as at least one year with output 20% below trend, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Mexico experienced great depressions in the 1980s, and Argentina experienced another in 1998–2002. South American countries fell once again into this in the early-to-mid 2010s. This definition also includes the economic performance of New Zealand from 1974 to 1992 and Switzerland from 1973 to the present, although this designation for Switzerland has been controversial. From 1980 to 2000, Sub-Saharan Africa broadly suffered a fall in absolute income levels. See also Great Recession L-shaped recession List of recessions List of recessions in the United States Recession Stagflation References External links Economic crises