The US recession of 2008 was caused by the collapse of the housing bubble fueled by predatory lending practices and deregulation of the financial industry. Subprime mortgages were provided to borrowers who could not afford them, and these risky loans were repackaged and sold as secure investments. When borrowers began to default, the value of these investments collapsed, triggering a global financial crisis as major banks and institutions faced huge losses. The recession had widespread impact around the world and governments spent trillions bailing out failing banks.