There is nothing the U.S. government can do to stop America from falling into another recession, said economist Nouriel Roubini on Thursday.

“Whatever the Fed does now is too little, too late,” he said. “Only issue now: Will it be a mild … recession or a severe recession plus global financial crisis as bad or even worse than the 2008-09 one?”

So America is back to where it was a long three years ago when Lehman brothers collapsed. Only now, it’s not just the banks and mortgage holders who are broke—but the government is too.

What went wrong?

All politicians should be forced to read Genesis 41 before taking office. So should Federal Reserve chairmen. The economic famine that grips the nation was avoidable—if those in charge had the humility to learn from Joseph.

Pharaoh had had a dream of seven fat, healthy cows being eaten by seven scrawny, sickly cows. None of his wise men or soothsayers could tell him what the dream meant. But Joseph could.

This humble slave told Pharaoh that Egypt would enjoy seven years of great abundance followed by seven years of famine. More importantly, he told Pharaoh what he should do: Save during the good years so the people would have food during the lean.

You probably know the story. But our modern politicians and economic wise men have missed the whole point: You actually need to save for the lean years!

Since America didn’t—there is no easy way out of its predicament. Economic famine is guaranteed.

During America’s good years—when secretaries and engineers alike quit their jobs to become real-estate agents, when bankers were rock stars, and seemingly limitless money let janitors buy half-million-dollar homes—our leaders should have been telling the nation to stop borrowing and start saving. At the least, the government should have put its own house in order.

But no. Even amid the best years of the last decade, not once did the government run a budget surplus. During President Bush’s last term, America ran the highest deficits in history. Hardly a single voice urged people to live within their means. The national debt increased during the Clinton years too—despite the popular myth to the contrary.

Instead, the Fed encouraged people to eat their grain—and not only that, but to borrow food from their neighbors and other nations and eat that as well!

Now the famine is here, and America is resorting to radical, harebrained shenanigans to keep the economy going. The people need food, so the government is handing out starch-packed, nutrient-deficient funny money, as fast as it can. The calorie count may be good, but the nation is starving. And the national debt is growing like a loaf of white bread on steroid yeast cells.

But where is the money coming from?, one may ask. I thought America was broke. It is the greatest scam in history. The money is either fake—created out of thin air—and thus will eventually destroy the value of the dollar, or it is borrowed, which means it has to be repaid out of future consumption.

And repaying that debt will not be easy. Foreigners are catching on. It used to be that the Japanese or Germans would lend America money for 30 years—content that the interest earned would be worth the risk. Not anymore. Today, most lenders only lend short-term. The risk of not getting their money back is too high. For America, that means that the trillions we are borrowing to keep the economy from collapsing will have to be paid back next year, or over the next few years, rather than in decades.

In a sign that foreigners may now be balking at lending the federal government any more money on a long-term basis, the Federal Reserve announced last Wednesday that it would take $400 billion it had temporarily lent the government and roll it over into 15-year and 30-year loans.

The Federal Reserve said the move was to help lower interest rates and stimulate more mortgages. Yet interest rates are at historical lows already and people and businesses are not borrowing.

Smart analysts wonder if the move wasn’t also to hide the cracks in a bond market that is only healthy in comparison to the world’s other dysfunctional markets.

Economic famine threatens again. Just look at the volatile stock markets. If that isn’t enough: Debt collapse threatens the eurozone, inflation is tearing China apart, America’s banking sector is largely insolvent and interconnected with Europe’s zombie banks, U.S. consumers are reaching the end of their resiliency, another wave of home foreclosures threatens to swamp the market again, and any day events could literally blow up the Middle East.

Yet in America, heeding Joseph’s advice would have prevented much of this mess—even put America in a position to emerge stronger. Had America promoted savings instead of spending, and hard work and thrift as opposed to immediate gratification and borrowing, a bubble wouldn’t have formed in the first place. And if for some reason disaster did strike, or if some unforeseeable event did occur, the nation would have abundant savings to fall back on. Instead, America has an enormous pyramid of debt.

Pharaoh was smart enough to take Joseph’s advice. As the famine took hold, the economies of neighboring nations were destroyed. But Egypt became incredibly wealthy. The surrounding nations were forced to bring their flocks and herds and whatever other wealth they had into Egypt to exchange for food.

Egypt went into the crisis from a position of strength. And it was Joseph’s advice that turned Egypt into a superpower. As a result of Joseph’s wisdom, Pharaoh promoted him to second in command of all Egypt. He was held in such high esteem that Joseph’s Israelite family was given the choicest agricultural land in Egypt (Goshen) to live on.

Unfortunately, America is heading into this crisis from a position of virtual bankruptcy. America is about to become subservient to the nations that stored up food for the famine.

The good news is that God wants you to prosper, even during severe economic depressions. In the Bible, Joseph was synonymous with “prosperity.” “And the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and … the Lord made all that he did to prosper in his hand” (Genesis 39:2-3).

If God could prosper Joseph when he was a slave, and even when he was unjustly thrown in jail, He can prosper you no matter your condition. The key is trusting and obeying Him, just like Joseph did. Will you do that?