Americans are used to the economy being strong.  The 1990s were boom years, and even after the Internet bubble popped, the recovery came relatively soon and we didn’t have to kick one of our strongest habits – borrowing.  As Tomoeh Murakami Tse and Dina ElBoghdady write in the Washington Post, it could be the end of easy money.  (See their article here).  What are the short-term consequences of an economic collapse?  The political ramifications if the downturn comes around November 2008 – or just after that?  Earlier recessions and periods of high inflation – in the early and late 1970s, for example – changed the way America viewed itself and the world.  Will a downturn now change Americans’ economic outlook over the long term? 

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