Sensitivity of the US Economy is quite surprising... What a difference $1750 per income-person makes... The key question here is ..if the US is this sensitive, this means that the rest of the world´s economies are even more sensitive... The real question becomes, why is making effective US policy so difficult, when the bottom line is what happens to a few hundred dollars per earner? In other countries, it could mean as little as $50 per earner.... The world´s economics are very sensitive indeed... One could literally come to decent policy, by just writing on the back of an envelope... Obviously, a consumption tax only, and the elimination of the IRS would strengthen the US...and thus the world.....