United States Economy

The United States economy produced roughly $15 trillion worth of goods and services in 2008, making it easily the largest in the world. China is next, at about $12 trillion, according to one widely used estimate. Per person, the American economy has the fourth largest output-- more than $45,000 for every man, woman and child, on average --behind Luxembourg, Bermuda and Liechtenstein, all havens for offshore banking.
In 2007, the American economy began to slow significantly, mostly because of a real-estate slump and related financial problems. In December 2007, the economy entered a recession, according to a committee of academic economists, overseen by the National Bureau of Economic Research, that is widely considered the arbiter of recessions.
The committee defines a recession as a broad-based and protracted downturn in economic activity, and its members typically wait many months before announcing that a recession has ended. By nearly all accounts, the recession continued into early 2009, making it the longest one in decades.