It depends upon what you mean by the economy. There was a good article in BusinessWeek that explored some of the misconceptions about GDP, but there’s no doubt that the cycle of easy credit and debt-based spending have wreaked havoc on our economy.

The worst part is that there are people like Robert Reich encouraging us to dig the hole even deeper, more quickly.

I will repeat Schiff’s prediction- the collapse hasn’t occured yet. We have the same system and the fundamentals have actually gotten worse. Everyone wants things to go back to how it was before the bust. I feel not only must things changes, but they will. As an example, I have heard estimates that up to 70% of our economy is based on consumer spending. That is spending money we don’t have mostly on things we don’t need.

Look at the recent example that was herald as great news- the biggest black Friday sales in history. What was not mentioned was how the sale offered undercut profits. And what really matters for sustained growth and recovery will be the profits.

Thanks for the summary.

Frank