The Great Economic Train Wreck: When America Went Off the Rails

We tend to think of dominos as standing the tiles on end and then tipping the first one over, toppling into the second, which falls into the third until finally all the dominoes have fallen. In 2008 the first of many financial dominos began falling. Many were worried and looked to Washington for leadership. Instead, we saw only politics-as-usual.

But as 2009 and 2010 unfolded, it became too benign to suggest our stricken economy was simply toppled dominos. It was more accurate to describe our condition as an economic "train wreck." The financial chaos as a result of the crisis was heightened by an extraordinary government intervention to triage the shattered economy. Many feared, with justification, that we may be teetering on the brink of this generation's Great Depression.

The near-death experience the U.S. economy has suffered forced Americans to turn inward and question our leaders. Our worries have multiplied. Our free market system and ultimately the "American Dream" itself now seem more vulnerable than ever. More importantly, we doubt ourselves and our leaders and long for our life-before.

This is a book that chronicles the unfolding disaster of our nation's financial "train wreck." For two crucial years, Kevin Clark had broadcast financial analysis that became a play-by-play of the economic collapse. Now, with hindsight, he revisits recent history and brings what he calls a "Main Street" perspective of this most critical moment in the modern life of America.