1. The government guaranteed unlimited credit for education

2. Colleges and universities jacked up their prices accordingly

No incentive for economy, no incentive for efficiency and no one in the business of higher education giving a damn about the financial impact on students.

And students aren't the only ones who who have been mangled by the "free money" policies of the US federal government.

Here's a short list of the structurally "walking wounded" in the US economy today:

1. Anyone who bought real estate between 2003 to 2008

2. Anyone with savings who thought they were going to be receiving any kind of reasonable return on their savings (1% a year on a million bucks in $10,000.)

3. Anyone who participated in what is certainly going to prove to be the spike before the crash of the higher education scam

We're talking TENS OF MILLIONS of Americans here.

And that doesn't include the currently unemployed or the chronically unemployed. Nor does it include the millions of people and families who have been devastated by the other unsupportable bubble, the so-called medical profession which has devolved into nothing more than an outlet for drug companies.

If it sounds grim, it is.

If the economy is dependent on consumers - and it is - and a significant chunk of the population is hamstrung financially in ways they can't easily extricate themselves, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to plot the trajectory of where this is headed.