Is this it?  Is this the beginning of the end?

With a deficit of 50% of GDP, the Japanese government walks where angels fear to tread.  Americans aren’t far behind.

Investors are looking for safety in the wrong places. Sell gold?  Buy the dollar? And bonds?

Consumer spending has held up surprisingly well. But with credit contracting and unemployment high and rising, it can’t continue.

You remember, Japan? It's the country with the 20-year on-again, off-again depression.

Depressions take time.  They go away eventually, but not before they’ve done their work.

Back in the '30s, the guys hauled before Congress generally refused blame. They were just doing their jobs. By and large, they were right. Today's bunch today is more media savvy.

Let's see, $700 billion worth of stimulus spending. That’s $350,000 per job.

How tough is it to make money when you can borrow money for nothing and lend it back to the lender at 400 basis points more interest? Even bankers can make money under those circumstances.

Joblessness at a 26-year high, and rising. Consumer credit just took the biggest monthly drop ever, as it's fallen 10 months in a row. Nearly half of Florida’s mortgages are underwater. But the stock market doesn’t seem to care or notice.