As some members may know, The Curious Investor is a member of the Forbes.com blog network. This week, they’ve organized the bloggers to answer the prompt:

What is your economic forecast for 2010? Are there specific economic markers that you find particularly useful and upon which you rely on in making your prediction?

From my perspective, the United States economy for the last decade has serial bubbled its way to the illusion of wealth. First the internet bubble and then cheap credit financing a housing bubble lined the American consumer’s pockets with a seemingly endless growth in wealth. Now, without the benefit of another asset to quickly inflate, it would seem that we’re facing a longterm retrenchment of the consumer as he begins to realize that the last ten years of “wealth creation” may have been quite illusory. To make matters worse, declining

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Nasdaq's president plans to step down from the exchange on Sept. 2.

In a widely anticipated move, the Nasdaq OMX Group told investors and analysts on Tuesday that Magnus Bocker would be stepping down soon as the company's president.

In a brief statement, the Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) said that Bocker will be joining the Singapore Exchange Limited as chief executive beginning in December. His last day in his current role is expected to be Sept. 2.

"We are grateful for his valuable contributions over the last 18 months, including executing on our successful integration as well as his achievements in moving our listings and market technology business forward," said Bob Greifeld, the Nasdaq's CEO, in the statement.

Bocker was named president of Nasdaq after it merged with the OMX Group last February. He was responsible for listings, corporate services and market technology at the Nasdaq OMX Group.

His responsibilities will be assumed by

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