404: Profits Not Found: The Dot-Com Bubble Burst

In 2001, the U.S. is reeling from a stock market crash that wiped out expectations about how the Internet would transform everyday life. Once-promising businesses such as Pets.com have fallen or are burning through funding that was easy-flowing just a few years before. The 1990s dot-com boom didn’t turn out to be the source of profit for new startups and businesses that many expected, and concerns are mounting that the stock market’s recent crash may turn into a broader economic one. Not to mention that some businesses may have chosen to be less than transparent about what went on in their offices as the public just expected companies to keep growing year after year.

As members of a special governmental economic committee, you will be able to steer the economy by pulling strings such as interest rates, tax rates, and connections with major U.S. banks. But keep in mind that Washington, D.C. often runs on its own schedule, even if the economy is falling apart. How will you make sure that the economy doesn’t come crashing down like the Nasdaq stock index? After years of seemingly limitless growth and excitement about the Internet, what will you make into the new engine of the world’s largest economy? How will you guide businesses during these uncertain times, apart from telling them not to blow money on Super Bowl commercials like Pets.com did?