Ok, so I asked this question about 6 months ago, and was lambasted by all those geniuses out there who said there was NO WAY this country could ever fall that far financially again - that many things had been put into place to prevent that from ever happening again.

So now, 6 months later, with the loss of Lehman bros, a company that had been around for over 150 years... and Merrill Lynch... and the imminent demise of AIG.... as well as the government's rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.... what do all the financial gurus say now about the chances?

The main problem, as I see it, is that the US doesn't really produce anything anymore - we CONSUME everything, but everything we have has a "Made in China" sticker on it. We owe VAST amounts of money to other countries - we are now a debtor nation. Aren't we eventually - maybe sometime very soon - going to have to pay the piper?

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Good answers so far. I'm not quite sure I understand rotorhead's answer though : it seems to me that the economies of the world are much MORE intertwined now than they were in the 20's and 30's.... if you read the reports, the markets around the world are reacting negatively to what is happening here.

I really like Angie H's answer alot : )
I agree, too. Maybe it would be good to get back to some of our pioneer roots, and learn to be self-sufficient again. It's just too bad it is going to take such a catastrophe to show us all the error of our ways.

Personally, I lived through the savings and loan debacle in the 80's, and I think the economic picture is much more grave now : our national debt is far higher, our housing market is worse, and our trade deficit is worse. I think in the end, the strong - morally, mentally, and spritually strong - will survive. Perhaps that's just what this country needs - to have all the greedy, selfish people washed away... "Let 'Em Swim"