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.