this is new york...

... and it is terrifying.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/nyregion/thecity/15part.html

This city is the US is a nutshell: it doesn't make anything, it just shuffles money and sells the illusion of sophistication and cool to itself and the rest of the world. Anybody else get the feeling this economy has been running on confidence and gas fumes for about 30 years?