The resulting downward impact on economic activity has led to an erosion of tax bases and taken a massive toll on public finances. The concomitant threats to debt sustainability, in turn, have required several governments to adopt ambitious fiscal consolidation measures during the downturn to regain control of their fiscal positions.
While the good times are typically very good in the West, the bad times are usually pretty bad, and that was certainly true during the Great Recession. From 2008 through 2010, the western economy contracted four times as much as the average for all of the United States.