Great angle but precious little new here. Basically covers background that anyone who has payed attention to the general economic history of this country since the Great depression already knows all too well. Glaringly omitted is any attempt to actually answer the subtitled question of whether Americans can learn to temper their addiction to financial gambling. It would have been nice to hear some suggestions on how the gov't might try to help them learn that lesson.

This lays out the story fairly and accessibly, seeming to have no agenda.

I think this is a very balanced assessment of the pre- and post-recessionary american economy. It just reminds one of what Keynes, godfather of the IMF, isaid of the market failures and why markets could not be left to themselves and called for global collective action. That is why as far back as in 1933 in his essay The End of Laissez-Faire he declared: “"Many of the greatest economic evils of our time are the fruits of risk, uncertainty, and ignorance. It is because particular individuals, fortunate in situation or in abilities, are able to take advantage of uncertainty and ignorance, and also because for the same reason big business is often a lottery, that great inequalities of wealth come about.'”

I Like that Mr. Goodman keeps the information in short concise paragraphs. If viewers like they can hit the link and find more detail information on the reference in that particular paragraph they are reading. I like the question at the end of the article asking if their sense of what the American economy needs has changed. Hopefully the viewer does question their impact on the economy and this does not just become a rhetorical question. My only concern is that all of the links in this article can be distracting and no suprise they link to articles written by the New York Times. The down side to this is the supporting articles can be biased in nature.