Most Americans are too busy or distracted to realize the world economy now sits on an unprecedented abyss. The question is – will the US economy, which dominates all other economies ($14 trillion of the world $61 trillion gross domestic product (GDP)), get back on a growth curve after being derailed by imprudent and outright fraudulent banking, lending and hedging schemes, and after a monumental rescue effort in the form of bailout money to banks and corporations as well as a buyout of real estate assets, now on the public ledger at the Federal Reserve Bank? In other words, did the $700+ billion Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) actually work? Maybe not, and you can sense the fear that palpitates through America today as this gargantuan financial failure unfolds.

What we see in the following chart (right side) is that the temporary false economy, spiking upwards as the economy relied upon bailout funds, followed by a disturbing steep downturn in the growth rate of the economy as the government withdrew its props (end of $8000 tax credit for 1st-time real estate buyers, unplugging extended unemployment benefits, end of short-term works projects, end of 400,000+ temporary Census Bureau employment).