Where am I going, and why am I in this handbasket?

Harvey Golub, former chairman of American Express writes in today's Wall Street Journal a clear and succinct summary of the causes of our current economic doldrums.

As they say, read the whole thing. Suffice it to say that the credit market meltdown is not the result of corporate greed or insufficient government regulation.

In the longer term, our nation must delever -- either by reducing the amounts of borrowing or by increasing consumer earning power through economic growth. Relying on growth alone implies a growth rate higher than we have ever experienced in our nation's history. Nonetheless, our public policy must encourage economic growth by lowering tax rates for corporations and individuals while at the same time avoiding what would be growth killers, including "card check" legislation and trade restrictions. Public policy should support higher savings rates, and avoid encouraging increased consumer spending funded by further debt, which may be helpful in the short term but catastrophic in the longer term.