From Nouriel Roubini, the economist who most closely predicted the current mess, comes a warning couched in economic jargon that needs to be deciphered and publicized.

In a column on Forbes.com, Roubini warns that the United States, in its response to the economic crisis, may be following in the disastrous footsteps of Japan - whose sluggish and overly lenient response to a financial crisis led to a decade of economic misery.

In economic jargon, Roubini warns: The "market-friendly, case-by-case approach to the necessary debt reduction of insolvent private non-financial agents - corporate for Japan, households for the US - will be too slow." He calls for an "across-the-board debt reduction" - lest we be condemned to a "systemic debt overhang."

In English, this means that by helping people to stay in homes they can't afford, buy cars beyond their means, pay for college through loans - in short, to acquire goods and services on credit they can't sustain -we are doing them no favors. Instead, we're assuring that debt will "overhang" their lives like a vulture sitting on a branch, inhibiting their buying habits and inhabiting their nightmares.

But if we force an "across-the-board debt reduction" that makes them move out of their overpriced homes, trade in their luxury cars, transfer to state colleges - and, if necessary, escape from under their credit-card debt via bankruptcy, we can eliminate the "overhang" and let them and our nation get on with their lives.

Roubini realizes that this approach is "not politically feasible, at this point, in the US."

But it must become feasible. Continued...