When Arizona Senator John McCain and Illinois Senator Barack Obama hit the campaign trail in 2008 in quest of the Oval Office, soon to be vacated by George W. Bush, the American economy was in crisis. The high times of the early 2000s were gone, erased by the effects of the housing market crash. The National Bureau of Economic Research reported that the American economy entered a recession, or an overall decline in economic activity, in December 2007, ensuring that the economy would surpass the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as the primary issue on the minds of most voters. At the heels of the 2012 Presidential election, the economy is once again one of the biggest issues on the campaign trail. The question continues to loom: did Obama handle the economy correctly and, if so, why is it still not fixed? This book looks at the economy in a way that is non-partisan and free of any bias. It tells you the facts in an easy to read way and let's you form your own conclusions. If you want to know what's really up with the economy, but don't want something that reads like propaganda for a political party, then read this book