human
I've been hearing a lot about the global financial crisis and how it is affecting the economy. What is the cause?
assistant
The cause of the global financial crisis was the collapse of the housing market in the United States. In 2007, the U.S. housing market began to decline rapidly as a result of increasing mortgage defaults. This caused the value of homes to decrease, which led to a decrease in consumer spending. This decreased consumer spending caused businesses to lay off workers, which further decreased consumer spending. This downward spiral eventually caused the recession.