Keith Quincy describes the real economy using the formulas for Washington's economic statistics before the formulas were rigged by Reagan, Clinton, and George W. Bush. Using the honest formulas of the 1970s, the real median wage in 2008 was one-third of what it was in 1973. This is why families needed two wage earners, plus record borrowing, to maintain their standard of living. The economy is now in a depression and unemployment is almost 22 percent. Worse Than You Think also reveals that Washington has raised workers' taxes (income and payroll) until they are now the highest among advanced economies. Also, Washington has also plundered the Social Security and Medicare trust funds to hide the true size of the budget deficits, turning the payroll tax into a disguised income tax. The second part of the book explains why the economy has declined. For 145 years, America was a protectionist nation. No nation successful today practices free trade since it is a prescription for poverty. It was suicidal for America to open its markets to cheap imports but that has been the policy of every president since Truman. The object was political, not economic. America needed allies for the Cold War. Opening our markets to imports was the carrot. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, we continued the policy, but now in pursuit of a military empire.