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Some numbers to put all this into perspective.
The world has about something just over $70trillion - all currencies combined. This US financial market meltdown has destroyed about $2trillion. The US will spend another $1trillion on "Mission Accomplished". Government has already spent $0.7trillion on a bailout - expect that number to double. The Defense Dept budget under George Jr has ballooned to $0.7trillion per year. US Federal government debt (treasury bonds et al to pay for our fiscal mismanagement) is somewhere between $5trillion and $8trillion depending on with game is used to measure it. A number that is guaranteed to increase massively and that was quickly approaching zero during Clinton's time.
For twenty years, America had seen a fairly constant growth rate. With 2000, and once we eliminate the distortions of inflation and economic wealth fueled by debts not yet paid, America has seen little if any economic growth. For all these GNP increases, we also have incurred massive debts that have still to be paid - such as most of the $trillion for "Mission Accomplished".
Get yourself financially stable. The numbers have long suggested that things could be getting much nastier. We still don’t know how many more ponzi schemes will collapse. Too many unknowns still remain.
We know this. The average American income has dropped 2% while welfare to the rich has significantly widened the difference between rich and poor. This occurred once previously in American history – just before 1929. Get out now from under credit cards and car payments.
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