Looks like you need to have the AMEX for 3 months:https://www.americanexpress.com/global-card-transfers/united-states.html

See if you feel like the place is in decline or if it is vibrant.

However, never discount black swans, which can be triggered by any number of global events.

Hey Teri,I have a really good friend who tours globally and gives speeches on how to "Create Magical Moments" in everyday interactions.

The panic turned into a global liquidity crisis and reached an apex with the bankruptcy of Lehman Bros. on Sept. 15, 2008, and the subsequent insolvency of insurance giant AIG.Wall Street was facing a sequential collapse of other banks, beginning with Morgan Stanley when the Fed and Congress stepped in with trillions of dollars of guarantees, swaps and bailout money.Both of these panics — 1998 and 2008 — began over a year before they reached the level of an acute global liquidity crisis.Turkey, Argentina and Indonesia, all major emerging-market economies, are in complete meltdown.

Long term, global debt levels are incredibly high, government and corporate, something will need to give. 

With real interest rate negative, and sitting at a historical global low, there is no worse time to buy multi-family from a strategic buy and hold perspective, returns will be lethargic compared to the past decade. 

It's tough for large business to invest in hiring and R&D when the global economy is so crazy borrowers are being paid to borrow (negative interest rates).

@William SlaterWelcome to the vibrant BP community.

I could show 25 graphs or more of what is wrong with America's economy and for that matter, much of the rest of the global economy and global markets.