Recession Reality Check

The American economy has hit a new low. Home values are plummeting, bills are rising and job layoffs have every worker concerned. Factor in the sudden bankruptcy of 158-year-old investment bank Lehman Brothers, an $85 billion federal bailout of insurance giant American International Group Inc., Bank of America's quick purchase of Merrill Lynch and rumors of future sales and proposed government bailouts that would cost billions, it's no wonder Americans are worried about their money.

Are you sick to your stomach and scared out of your mind? Money expert Suze Orman is here to explain what's really going on—and how you can protect yourself. "We have built an entire economy on lies and deceit," she says. "It's like building a home or an entire building on a sinkhole. You have a foundation, supposedly. But a little crack, if something goes wrong—a little earthquake, a tremor—and it starts to open, everything starts to fall down and, Oprah, that is exactly what has happened in the United States of America."