The Illusion of the Bush Economy's Growth is Revealed

Hale "Bonddad" Stewart
The Huffington Post

Ever since I have been writing about the economy (about 4 years) I have focused on the mammoth increase in US debt during this expansion. It has led me to question the underlying vitality of this expansion as a whole. Events of the last six months indicate the markets are also asking the same question right now, although in a somewhat different way.

In effect, the economic dominoes are starting to fall. Ultra-low interest rates which inflated asset prices and allowed an explosion of debt are starting to seriously bite as a financial system is burdened with too much bad debt on its books. In addition, the market is starting to realize that asset prices -- namely housing -- were ephemeral and will have to drop. In effect, the entire economy is going through a process of reevaluating "the greatest story never told" and are discovering it wasn't that good a deal to begin with.

(Continued here.)