All it would take to collapse our economy is for the other nations of the world to decide to base their economies on a monetary system other than the American dollar.
America has been playing every dangerous economic game in the book, and it cannot last. Playing "beat the bank"- writing checks to pay bills with the intent of having the money in the bank by the time the check gets there, taking out one loan to pay on another, printing more money to pay the bills when all else fails.
The more money the Fed prints, the less it's worth. And, since the world economy is based on the American dollar, this weakens the world economy as well. All it would take to collapse our economy is for the other nations of the world to decide to base their economies on a monetary system other than the American dollar.
It is only a matter of time before the other nations of the world will not stand for our devaluing their monetary systems any longer. Here is a very plausible scenario for how this would unfold:
The Day the Dollar Died: http://youtu.be/...
What happens to us and our families then? There's a great book that realistically represents this, "American Apocalypse" by Nova.