Story uses lots of graphs and charts to reinforce its point that the bubbles upon which Americans based their lives have burst, leaving everyone stuck with the residue pieces of debris. Implicit throughout the article is an undercurrent of legacy costs–the current hot-lash phrase to describe one of the evils of corporate behavior.

This in depth, but readable, analysis tells Americans that they've been living in a fairyland; "what they thought was a stable net worth (home equity and an equity portfolio) was no such thing, and that such obligations as pensions and life and health insurance are far less secure than they thought." And what is true of householders is doubly so for businesses and pension funds, with a "collapse of consumer spending, which leads to a rise in unemployment, which in turn erodes the value of commercial property, and so forth." Each of us will feel crunched, and in the end, "The American economy may be hard to recognize afterwards."

This author neatly explains the situation we are now experiencing, wherein the basis of many American's "wealth" has been exposed as a chimera and then disappeared. He expresses faith in the Obama presidency to bring on real reform in our culture. The future has yet to be written. Let us learn from the past.