On a college campus somewhere there is a group of eager economics students who are busy unraveling what really caused the US to slide into this latest recession. The real estate market explains part of it. But there is something about the subprime mortgage theory that doesn't wash as the whole story.

Helping more people into home ownership is not a bad idea. Few industries, as we are seeing, influence the US economy more than spending on the home.

The "real" economy - what Americans produce and get paid for doing it - has been shrinking. Real wages have been falling for the last 30 years. And that means a serious recession was coming with or without the real estate market's woes.

Average Americans are working longer and harder than ever for less money.

Blaming Americans for living beyond their means, including buying homes they can't afford, Robert Reich says in his blog, misses the point. He's right. Americans have been trying to maintain their middle-class lifestyle by using credit cards and home-equity loans to pay for everything from groceries to college tuition.

We sense something is dramatically wrong. But we are divided on what to do.

Do we continue with the Reagan-era trickle-down theory that throws money at Wall Street? Or do we invest in ourselves and our communities by making higher education affordable, health-care universal, and energy independence a priority?

If we leave it to the global elite in Congress, the middle class may never look the same again. A smaller, less politically potent middle class will emerge.

If we go left, things may get much worse before they get better. The national debt is already dictating the priorities and limiting the options available to the next administration.

But at least there's still a chance that things will improve for the majority of households, and not just those in the upper 2 percent of incomes.