The United States is still the best place in the world to prosper. But in recent years things have gotten tougher for the average American. Sky-high unemployment, a collpased housing market, and stagnating wages have hit the middle class hard. And the government is struggling to respond to these challenges.

Jeffrey Sachs, director of the Earth Institute and author of "The Price of Civilization," sat down with Christine Romans to asses the state of America's middle class and the possibility of a double-dip recession.

The term 'double dip recession' is something that has been thrown around for years, but is it possible that the U.S. is finally falling back into a new recession?

The evidence is continuing to mount that we are indeed headed towards a double-dip recession. The economy is barely growing, companies aren't hiring, there's a debt crisis in the U.S. and in Europe, and companies are continuing to stockpile cash.

This morning on American Morning, Economic Cycle Research Institute's Lakshman Achuthan explains what indicators say, and why they show we might already be in a recession.