The Dow Jones index has plunged more than ten-percent this month, marking the worst June performance since the Great Depression. Mark Zandi of Moody's Economy.com said, "Nothing's going right for the average American household: gas prices are at record highs, stock prices are falling, housing values are evaporating. We're losing jobs, unemployment [is] rising. It's just a very difficult time."

But it doesn't matter what happens on Wall Street in Chula Vista, California. Residents there still won't see fireworks. The city dropped a bombshell instead: 4th of July cancelled for lack of funds. Chula Vista is just one of many cities and towns to see their budgets cut and public services and programs scaled back in response to rising gas prices and dwindling funds.

Getting from here to there is more difficult as well. Boating is way down and airline prices are way up. Even filling the gas tank has people doing the math:  As California biker Brian Hanable pointed out, "I could maybe do five. But once it gets close to six dollars a gallon it really makes you think a lot."

The topic on the minds of investors, meanwhile, is "stagflation," the effect of quickening inflation combined with slowing economic growth. Oil prices are already up this morning as a result of brewing Middle East tensions, and Asian stocks posted their worst first-half performance in 16 years. And as the causes and effects of the plunging economy reverberate around the world, the resulting hardship to the average American shows no signs of abating.