When the economy and the financial system are both greatly shaken at the same time, the consequences can be extremely painful. Most of you still clearly remember what life was like in 2008 and 2009. It was such a dark chapter in American history. But there have been other times when we have had a financial market crash but no recession. 1987 is a perfect example of that. Of course there have also been many instances when economic conditions have been very poor but the financial markets weathered it just fine. It is actually rare for a major economic crisis and a major financial crisis to occur simultaneously like we witnessed during the Great Recession and the Great Depression. Unfortunately, it appears that this is precisely the type of scenario that we are now facing.

The other day I authored an article entitled "12 Signposts That Indicate That A Monumental Economic Meltdown Is Now Upon Us", and it received a tremendous amount of attention. That article clearly established that a significant economic slowdown is now upon us. Since I wrote that article, more evidence that the economy is slowing down has emerged.

For example, it is being reported that Las Vegas experienced a "devastating fall of 7.5 percent" in the number of people visiting the city last year…