Recall that the U.S. economy has gone through four decades of trade deficits. That means it has not made a profit for forty years. The economic growth reported is based on consumer spending, which in turn is based on increasing debt.

The same goes for corporate profits. They involve only citizens buying and spending with an income level that's many times higher than that of other countries and debt exceeding disposable income.

Put simply, the economy is built on debt, mainly dollars that have no value and that were used to buy oil and other resources. It is a consuming machine, with less than 5 pct of the global population but requiring 25 pct of world oil production. The debt has now reached almost $60 trillion shared across government, households, and corporations.

Finally, it might be argued that it is the fault of the government as it creates more money. In reality, much of the money supply worldwide is created by commercial banks and corporations whenever they borrow or extend credit. The largest component is derivatives, which are basically debts based on debts based on.... The total amount is $1.4 quadrillion, of which $800 trillion is unregulated. U.S. banks alone are exposed to over $370 trillion.

In general, then, the whole global economy is based on increasing debt used to produce and consume more. Given that, the last credit bubble popping will be followed by more, and the U.S. will be followed by other countries, including China, as more citizens begin to borrow and spend more in order to pay for a middle class lifestyle.

After that comes a resource shortage, esp. peak oil.