Much political rhetoric has focused on whether the U.S. economy and individual Americans are better off now than we were four years ago. "If you're talking about the U.S., think about where we were at this time in 2008," said Fox School of Business finance professor Bruce Rader. "We're looking at Lehman Brothers going under, we're looking at a financial system that was coming apart at the seams. The wheels were coming off the economy. From that perspective, we're a lot better off."