How bad is the economy?

Will the string of bad news ever end? First, it was Bernie Madoff, then it was Satyam, and more recently Allen Stanford. What would be funny is if Madoff had actually invested in Satyam stocks, and Satyam had those fake FDs held in the Stanford banks. The economy must be in a really bad shape. It is so bad that even the crooks like Raju and Madoff are finding it difficult to survive. I meant this in a very serious sense, but people who heard this thought it was funny. The easy money machines are losing the grease looks like. Also, is it a coincidence that the oil prices decided to fall suddenly just before the transition of power across the pond? Its almost like all those people who do "dus ka thees" quietly disappear at the first sign of mamus. There is more to it that what meets the eye, says the conspiracy theorist in me.