Just how bad is the economy?

[OrphanPip]

Why can the U.S. easily solve their debt problem with spending cuts, but the U.K. can't?

Maybe it can, but the US's position (external debt to GDP wise) is much better off than the UK's (the highest in the G20). The UK's debt problem is more precarious. I don't buy into any of the doomsday predictions though, none of the major Western economies is so far gone that they couldn't balance their books and turn their debt problems around.