See more of this title: From Boom to Bust and Beyond: The Hidden Forces Driving Our Economy - What You Need to Know to Survive and Succeed

The United States is coming off a period of growth and prosperity unlike anything the world has ever seen before. Like a Hawaiian surfer riding a gigantic fifty-foot wave, the entire U.S. and world economy was carried by consumer spending from the Baby Boomers. It was a truly wonderful and phenomenal period of growth. Unfortunately the wave has now hit the beach and we have entered an unprecedented demographic winter, something as yet unknown to the modern world.