Summary
The "ATM mentality," fostered by the housing bubble that allowed homeowners to borrow profligately against their inflated property values, has helped to create not only a nation of debt (the president's recent budget proposal projects a $408 billion deficit in 2008, while the national debt nears $10 trillion), but also a nation of debtors (credit-card debt reached a record high last year, and Americans now pay on average 14-6 percent of their disposable income for debt service alone). Historically, the U.S. economy has had many advantages: a government of laws and a well-regulated banking industry and securities market; the creativity of entrepreneurs; the availability of cheap energy, land, and natural resources; a strong manufacturing and exporting sector; affordable health care; a viable infrastructure and a well-educated populace; a respected military; and a strong dollar.
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Extract
Taking Stock
No one seems to know whether we are now heading into a recession or are already in one. But for good reason the economy has become the dominant issue in the presidential campaign.
In Washington, both Congress and the Federal Reserve have taken steps to...See the full content of this document
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