It's a mess out there. Unemployment is higher than it's been in 60 years, and the U.S. dollar is losing value at an alarming rate. If that's not bad enough, fears abound that taxes will be heading north for all workers, even while the United States continues to find itself in a deep, protracted recession.

On that happy note, let's turn to the subject at hand. What can we do, you and I, individually, to turn this economy around? In a word: Nothing. What you spend this week, how much you save or burn up in gasoline is not going to make one bit of difference to the U.S. economy.