If Walmart were a country, it would have the 25th largest economy in the world! By economic activity, it would be the biggest country in all of Africa. Worldwide, the company employs a whopping 2.1 million people. In dollar terms, it brings in over $1 billion a day in revenue and more than $400 billion annually.

In America, Walmart employs a little over 1 percent of the entire workforce. It is the country’s largest retailer and grocery store, with grocery sales accounting for over half of the company’s revenue. More than $1 out of every $45 spent in the country is spent at Walmart—that is more than 2 percent of America’s total gross domestic product.

Walmart plays such a huge role in the economy that some analysts say it is a pretty good proxy for the nation.

Some analysts claim it is even a more accurate indicator than government statistics. Peter Schiff, ceo of Euro Pacific Capital, refers to the government’s “overly optimistic assessments” as the “aim-high-then-mark-down trend.” He is referring to the government’s perceived habit of releasing positive economic performance numbers and then quietly revising them down later.

This week, the government is expected to release July’s personal spending growth. Analysts are expecting a 0.3 percent increase in consumption since this time last year.

Walmart, on the other hand, just reported a 0.3 percent drop in sales in stores that have been open for more than a year.

The Sober Look blog reports that the “Walmart negative earnings surprise … could be signaling a slower earnings trajectory for other firms.”

So which is it? Is the economy improving, as the government’s consumption figures seem to suggest? Or are consumers struggling, as the Walmart data indicates?

Since Walmart is such a huge part of the U.S. economy, it is hard to see how things could be improving much as long as Walmart and its middle and lower-class customers—the majority of the population—are struggling.

With the stock market hitting new highs, and the memory of failing banks fading, there is a lot of hype about America’s apparent recovery. But don’t be fooled. Nothing major has changed. If anything, the big-picture economic indicators have worsened.

The “official” national debt now approaches $17 trillion. Boston University economics professor Laurence Kotlikoff says the real debt, including promises made to future retirees, is actually closer to $200 trillion. If he is half wrong, the debt is still an astronomically high, and unpayable, $100 trillion. The official unemployment rate is 7.4 percent. The U6 unemployment rate, which is closer to the real unemployment rate, stands at 14 percent. Around 50 million people in the United States are now living below the official poverty line. There are 47.5 million people on food stamps. As of January this year, 128 million Americans received some form of government assistance—that is more than a third of the country’s population.

And all of this is happening in what was once the richest and most blessed nation in history.

If you want to know why, read He Was Right. Here is an excerpt.

Let [Herbert] Armstrong explain: “Like Rome, we’ve grown fat and prosperous and lazy. We Americans are rolling in money. We have more money than any people ever had. Money has come so easily! … We’re the wealthiest, as compared to any other nation, and we are fast growing lazy and soft, seeking luxury and pleasure, and excitement, idleness and ease, labor-saving, step-saving devices and gadgets” (Plain Truth, February 1956). …In all of this material prosperity, we have forgotten God.

America has forgotten the source of these blessings, and because of disobedience to God’s laws these blessings are diminishing fast. Financial turmoil plagues the United States, but it does not have to lead to the same outcome for you. Request our free booklets He Was Right and Solve Your Money Troubles.