And the fallout...

So two days ago, it was reported that the U.S. economy had lifted itself out of the reccesion. Not so fast. On Oct. 31, leading Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph E. Stiglitz said the U.S. recession is actually "nowhere near" an end, and the small growth rate that the U.S. saw in the third quarter won't continue into 2010, during a address he gave in Shanghai. He credited most the progress that's been made to the $787 stimulus package that was infused into the economy in February. Additionally, Stiglitz said the U.S. made a huge mistake in not nationalizing the banks in the first place.

We have this very strange situation today in America where we have given banks hundreds of billions of dollars and the president has to beg the banks to lend and they refuse,” Stiglitz said. “What we did was the wrong thing. It has weakened the economy and has increased our deficit, making it more difficult for the future.

President Barack Obama and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke both vehemently opposed the idea back in February.