• U.S. swamped by credit card debt



• Amazing memory man never forgets



• High-speed Internet sat blasts off



• Obama takes heat for missing event

• More people tapping 401(k) for cash



• Musharraf rules out resignation



• 24 cities to turn off lights for global warming



• Most states give green light to tamper-proof IDs



• Castro quits as Cuba president



• Commander- Iraq duty tours may be cut



• Man Charged With Plotting Super Bowl Attack



• Turning CO2 into chalk

America’s economy risks mother of all meltdowns

By Martin Wolf

“I would tell audiences that we were facing not a bubble but a froth – lots of small, local bubbles that never grew to a scale that could threaten the health of the overall economy.” Alan Greenspan, The Age of Turbulence.

That used to be Mr Greenspan’s view of the US housing bubble. He was wrong, alas. So how bad might this downturn get? To answer this question we should ask a true bear. My favourite one is Nouriel Roubini of New York University’s Stern School of Business, founder of RGE monitor.

[READ MORE]

More from Martin Wolf

Nationalising Northern Rock was the right move

Why Putin’s rule threatens both Russia and the west

Why a crisis is also an opportunity

Why it is so hard to keep the financial sector caged

Bernanke’s reflation gamble may work too well

The Bank must keep its nerve

Whythe global financial turmoil is like an elephant in a dark room

Regulators should intervene in bankers’ pay

Why sterling is the next dollar

Challenges for the world’s divided economy

• Venezuela Halts Oil Sales to EXXON MOBIL...



• Detroit Had Top Foreclosure Rate in '07...



• Limbaugh- I'm McCain's 'most valuable asset'...



• Hezbollah Says Top Militant Is Killed...



• India to announce lunar mission...