Plumer presents some numbers. Basically, the country is going to be a lot poorer than it should be because the people in charge are incompetent and/or evil. Some of that is going to be spread relatively evenly through the population, with most of us having a bit smaller raises then we might have hoped for. Some of that is going to be concentrated misery for people who can't find jobs. And, of course, some people have their mouths on the spigot of free cash that is being forced down the gullets of the privileged few, the ones we "forced" take all that TARP and fed discount window money.