Go to the web site of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED) (fred.stlouisfed.org) and download and graph the data series for the net worth of households (TNWBSHNO) from the first quarter of 1952 until the most recent quarter available. Go to the web site of the National Bureau of Economic Research (nber.org) and find the dates for business cycle peaks and troughs (the period between a business cycle peak and trough is a recession).
a. What is household net worth?
b. Describe how household net worth changes just before, during, and just after a typical recession.

c. Why did household net worth decline by so much during the recession of 2007–2009? How might the decline in household net worth have affected the severity of the 2007–2009 recession?