Abstract

Calamities such as the 2007-2009 Great Recession, caused by the collapse of the housing market mainly incited by low interest rates and easy credit, leave a trail of profound and devastating damage in their wake. High rates of unemployment, stock market crashes and reduction in consumption rate etc. are but a few of the effects. There is evidence of certain nations being better equipped to field economic downturns such as recessions or environmental calamities such as floods and storms. The interest area for this research was to ascertain the impact that the 2009 great recession had on exports of goods and services by 25 countries in Asia and Africa between 2000 -2019. Two Way ANOVA Repeat measure data analysis was key to this study and to counteract multiple comparisons problem, Bonferroni method of correction was utilized. Findings revealed a leadership style backed by natural resources is correlated to the level of financial and overall performance of a nation before, during and after a recession calamity. The significant main effects of Test, F (1, 25) = 30.553, p=.001, Partial Eta Squared = .629 such that Post Test (M=56.023, SD=3.717) had a significant high than Pre-Test (M= 26.890, SD= 3.727) indicated more economic opportunity for trade after the Great Recession. Countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE had even higher significant interaction effects suggesting a boom in economic trade after the recession as compared to years before.