I am a retired Mechanical Engineer who specialized in machine design for various manufacturing industries. From this vantage point as saw the economy quite differently from the mainstream. Right now I am writing down the reasons why I saw the current economic train wreck coming. This includes a "Hierachy of Service Jobs" to justify my belief that our GDP was inflated and had to burst. Manufacturing creates wealth. Service jobs (other that basic-especially financial) create illusions. The housing debacle was merely the "Straw that broke the camel's back"