Already the 21st century has been marked by economic ups and downs. Following nearly a decade of high growth and low unemployment, the US economy experienced decline across most industrial sectors in 2000. Both the e-commerce bubble burst and major IT initiatives designed to prepare for Y2K yielded way to declining IT budgets and a reluctance to invest in major IT developments. While the economy did not return to its pre-2000 days, certainly the years from 2003 to 2008 exhibited relatively stable growth and employment.