The economy has been in a downturn for quite some time now.  For the past couple of years, the poor shape of our national market has continuously made the news, to a tiring degree.  With the arrival of 2010, projections are being made for this year, and it’s also time to reflect back on the numbers of 2009.  It should come as absolutely no surprise the number of Indiana bankruptcies in 2009 rose again over the prior year, as did bankruptcies in the rest of the country at a rate of 32%.  In 2009, over 1.4 million bankruptcies were filed across the United States.  Perhaps more surprising is that it is not a record, but only the 7th highest number of filings in a given year, behind the years 1998 and 2001-2005–years in which the national economy appeared to be booming (of course, the 2005 bankruptcy reform mostly likely has much to do with the higher rate of filings in the years preceding).  For the complete story, see this article written by Mike Baker of the Associated Press.