From MyLeftWing, here is another fun little chart of economic indicators, this time measuring household debt in the U.S. La-dee-da-da, all through the century, and the BAM! Curiously, this must be an act of sabotage by some vicious demon or lesser imp, because there is no way such a dramatic downturn could occur during a time period when the fiscally conservative Republicans control all three branches of government.

Seriously, though. This is what happens when you drag a country into war while telling people to go shopping, and then hammer them with the idea that the economy is strong even if their personal wealth doesn’t reflect it. Who wouldn’t spend beyond their means?

In a sense, the ultimate irony of this is that the banks and big business, the two strongest lobbies for such deficit spending, will both bear the biggest brunt of this fiscal irresponsibility when it all comes crashing down. It’s just too bad the common folk will be the ones caught in the middle while Wells Fargo’s ‘former’CFO will be lounging it up in his Caribbean tax shelter.