( May 1, 2013, http://perspectives.pictet.com/2013/05/01/euro-area-deflation-is-looming/ last viewed May 25, 2014) The above The diagram shows the inflation rate of the Eurozone. During the recession, the Eurozone's inflation rate did not fall much. This shows that the ECB's policy has managed to keep the inflation rate around the normal rate, i.e. 2%, allowing people and businesses to spend and invest more money. Since the interest rate is low, businesses and people will tend to spend rather than deposit money in the bank. This is because they think it's not worth putting their money in the bank when the interest rate is so low. Furthermore, low interest rates also encourage businesses to get a loan from the bank with a very low interest rate. This could increase consumer consumption. In the Eurozone, governments have raised taxes to save the economy. By raising taxes, governments are able to get more money. Therefore, they are able to reduce their debt. By reducing debt, the government can slowly emerge from bankruptcy. If a country is bankrupt, it will produce many more problems than recession. Therefore, this policy is useful to prevent the country from going bankrupt. Because the debt is huge, governments try to reduce spending. As government spending is reduced, the national debt will not rise rapidly. Additionally, the European Central Bank helped recover from the recession by reducing the interest rate. The goal is to reduce inflation. As inflation rises, people will need more money to purchase a good. To prevent this from happening, the ECB reduces the interest rate to keep the inflation rate low. The diagram above shows the GDP growth rate of the United States of America during the recession. From 2008 to 2009, the US GDP growth rate fell from about +3 to about -7. After President Obama created the stimulus plan in 2009, the GDP growth rate increased rapidly from -7 to almost +5. This shows that the policy applied by the US government works very well to help America recover from the Great Recession. Additionally, the US government has cut taxes. This was successful as it increased people's net income. Americans may have more money in their pockets to spend. Additionally, the Federal Reserve lowered the interest rate to help the United States out of recession. The interest rate reduction helps the economy by encouraging the unemployment rate in 2009 to gradually decline. This statistic shows that US policies are very successful.