Remember the heady days before the dotcom tech bubble broke in 2000? Investors were throwing dollars at any high-tech startup that had a business plan.

As we begin 2012, an election year, the United States faces many difficult economic and financial issues, even amid recent signs of improvement. The tough issues include national debt of $15.2 trillion and rising, 8.5 percent unemployment that would be even higher if the labor force was growing, flat wage growth, and rising levels of poverty.