2015 Shopper Economic Crisis

The 2015 Shopper Economic Crisis was one of the largest economic crises to ever hit Antarctica. The Shopper economy suddenly stagnated due to a lull in domestic military manufacturing and then plunged in early 2015, causing an Antarctica-wide depression that hit many countries. During the crisis, two nations declared bankruptcy (Malesia and South Joseon) and others found their economics in dire straits..

History

 * See also: Saviors from Above

Throughout 2013 and 2014, Shops' economy had become based around the concept of imperialism, waging war and winning its bounty in return. However, after the Frosian War, president Lavender had vowed not to go to war anymore. Over time, the Shopper economy stagnated. The Military Industrial Complex eventually declared bankruptcy, which sent a shockwave through the Shopper economy, resulting in many other businesses declaring bankruptcy. This turned into a Shopper economic crisis. Because of Shops' position and influence on the Antarctic stage, many other countries also felt the impact of the economic crisis.

List of Countries Affected

 * ShopsIslandFlag2013.png Shops Island - Shops was the country that started the crisis and it was therefore harshly affected.
 * AxlePowers.png The Axle Powers - The Axle Powers also felt the impact of the crisis, considering Shops Island is a member nation. However, the Axle Powers banded together to keep themselves afloat amidst Shops' recession.
 * FlagROSn.png Snowiny - Shops Island was Snowiny's biggest trading partner. Snowiny had not been as severely affected as other nations; its economy was still growing, but growth had declined sharply as a result of the recession.
 * SouthJoseonFlag.png South Joseon - Panic and terror occupied South Joseon when the country declared bankruptcy. Many jobs were lost due to the economic crisis.
 * MaLOLaysiaFlag.png Malesia - Malesia had also gone bankrupt during the first weeks of the crisis. A national emergency was declared and Malesia started borrowing money from larger economies.
 * Flag of the Seal Islands.svg Seal Islands - Although the Seal Islands felt the effects of the crisis severely, they did not declare bankruptcy.
 * GeekEmpireFlag.png Geek Empire - The nation that by far suffered the most. The geeks almost went bankrupt and requested loans from the Western Union and Axle Powers to help them. After the crisis, the Geek Empire was supposed to pay back its loans; it was unable to do that due to low amount of money it has and has since entered a debt crisis it still experiences to this day. It was mostly Snowiny who loaned them money and now the two are having struggles over repaying them. Similarly, many nations in the Ninja Archipelago lent the Geek Empire money at high interest rates which also haven't been paid back, causing tensions.
 * Flag of Castilla.png Castilla - Castilla was Shops Island's largest trading partner in the Ninja Archipelago; as such, the Castillan economy fared worse than other countries in the AU. A sudden loss of Shopper investment in Castilla and vice-versa only made Castilla's already precarious economic situation even worse. Castilla had been cast into severe debt over a multitude of wars over the best few years – Shops' recession only compounded these problems.
 * USA flag.PNG United States of Antarctica - The USA, being Antarctica's foremost economic power, weathered the Shopper recession better than most. However, there were signs of strain in the Antarctic economy during the crisis; Antarctic investment in Shops Island plummeted as did the inverse, hurting the Antarctic stock market.

Proposed Solutions

 * See also: April 2015 UAN Resolutions

In early 2015, Shops Island had tried making amends with its former enemies, including Snowzerland, who kept killing Shopper diplomats. This was happening as the economic crisis began to unfold. In the Common Legislature, the government chambers of Shops Island, politicians cried for war to take revenge on Snowzerland, and to re-inflate the economy. Instead, Lavender created multiple stimulus packages which helped ease the pain, but failed to effectively solve the problem.

On the international stage, many nations knew that something would have to be done. At the UAN, Shops Island publicly appealed for an international effort to help those other countries that were suffering. The proposal had overwhelming support. But, Puffle'and, a member of the Security Council, didn't want to be bothered with it, and therefore vetoed the proposal, making sure it didn't happen.

Beside that, unaffected nations such as Margate started lending money to nations affected by the economic crisis to help them out, albeit their purpose of doing so is not entirely selfless. Margate and Shops Island were also having negotiations on setting up an arms deal in order to stimulate Shops' Military Industrial Complex. It also suggested the creation of an international financial organization to help out nations severely affected by the depression.