Just because there was a boom in the housing market doesn't mean there will be a bust. But if the decline in prices that has hit some markets spreads across the country, the overall economy could suffer on multiple levels.

In the cover story, find out why some bankers are encouraging Congress to raise the ceiling for insurance on deposits to $130,000 from $100,000 per account. Opponents point out that in the wake of the last increase, the S&L crisis occurred.

It's not the total number of people that should be causing worry, but the number of retired people relative to those still working. Across the world, the ranks of retirees are swelling and the ranks of those working - and paying taxes to support retirees - are not keeping up.

The development of the microchip sparked another industrial revolution. But will this revolution yield the long-term surge in productivity that the First and Second industrial revolutions produced?