In the past six months, the economy has undergone a mortgage crisis, a credit crisis and a number of stock market dives.
The dollar's drop in value has had a ripple effect through the markets in other countries and dragged them into a global recession.
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama have proposed plans to restore the economy.
McCain said he will stimulate economic growth by providing small-business owners with more access to capital. He will do this by lowering tax rates on dividends and capital gains and cutting taxes for sole-proprietors, partners and landlords who file under the individual income tax.
McCain said he will also offer corporations a lower tax rate if they keep jobs on American soil.
McCain said he plans to reduce federal borrowing and provide investment and research incentives so that workers will have access to the most modern technology available.
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"Sen. Obama has never stood up to his party," McCain said while campaigning in New Mexico in September. "I have, I can and I will in order to do what is right for the country."
Obama plans to jumpstart the economy at the state level with the $25 billion State Growth Fund bill and the $25 billion Jobs and Growth Fund bill. He said these funds will prevent states from having to increase property taxes or cut spending for infrastructure improvements like road and bridge maintenance.
Obama has also said he will increase taxes on people making more than $250,000 while giving tax breaks to those who earn less than $150,000. He has pledged to give a $4,000 tax credit for each college student per family, and seniors who earn less than $50,000 would pay no income tax under his plan.
Obama said the government must take immediate action or more than one million jobs could be cut in the near future.
"The economy is the worst it has been since the Great Depression," he said during his visit to UNM on Saturday. "We lost over 750,000 jobs this last summer. Wages are lower than they have been in a decade, and the cost of health care and colleges have never been higher."
Student Trevor Tixier said the economic platforms of the candidates are almost the same and that neither candidate can fully repair the damage that has been done to the economy.
Tixier said the U.S. needs to keep domestic businesses from exporting jobs overseas. The bigger problem with the economy, however, is the reckless amount of money spent on bailing out corporations that couldn't control their bad fiscal habits, he said.
"I probably wouldn't have started with that whole bailout thing," he said. "It is one of the biggest tragedies that has ever happened."
Student Jared Metzger said the next president will have to increase federal spending to fix the economy.
"We need to get out of this recession, that's for sure," Metzger said. "We need to put money back into the economy to induce more people to start buying more things. Because once people start spending more money, I think the economy will fix itself eventually."
Metzger said Americans need to have more money in their pockets to spend, and for that to happen, there will need to be a balance between reducing the costs of items like health care while increasing taxes to pay for all the bills and incentives that McCain and Obama have proposed.
"Both candidates are going to have to raise taxes," Metzger said. "I think that's the bottom line."
Metzger said no matter which candidate wins, the new president will need a fresh approach to economic policy.
"Change needs to happen," he said.
Obama:
Issue a rescue package for the middle class
Cut taxes for Americans earning less than $150,000 per year
Help state governments set up projects that keep people in their jobs
Achieve better accountability in subprime mortgages
McCain:
Reduce federal spending
Extend the Bush tax cuts
Cut down on earmarks and establish priorities
Buy up home mortgages with $300 million of federal funds
Source: OnTheIssues.org
