It looks from this that Americans (I bet Canadians and Brits too) just could not cope by about 98. They made up the balance with debt.

So as lenders pull in - what does this mean?

I think it means that the structural issue trumps the market worries. Most Americans are broke. This reality will have a long term effect.

For me - it will be about work and jobs. We have exported both to cut the costs of what we buy. We then borrowed the money to buy the stuff now made abroad.

I think that we have to help people find good work.

This won't mean going back to work for GM but new work. Local energy? Local Food?

Not just subsistence but large networks of people working for each other.