Th economy is doing pretty poorly. Here in Florida the main issue has been people buying houses they can't afford. Then when they go to forclose the house, the value of the house has dropped, so they people can't pay back the morgage companies. This has caused a of morgage company closures and problems within the housing market.

The other issues are inflation and recession or better known as stagflation. Usually with inflation the economy is growing, so it is ok, but now the economy is receding and inflation is still going up. That means people make less money and stuff now costs a lot more. The housing market has also greatly effected the inflation rate. When you go to get a morgage at a bank, the bank gets the money from the Federal Reserve. If the Reserve doesn't have the money they print more, with the end result of inflation. Also the Federal Reserve lends money to the USA at interest, like you would get on a loan from a bank. This instantly puts America into debt.

Now the Reserve has been slashing interest rates, which is what the USA has to pay back. By doing this banks can lower their interest rates, and still make money. This is supposed to spur Americans to spend more.

Gas is $4 a gallon here, but overseas their money is worth more than twice ours, so they are effectively paying half of what we are. Gas used to be $1 a gallon before the Oil Tycoon took over.