What if Americans became economic refugees?

Here's a tip of the hat to Capt. Xerox on the Website at tne End of the Universe, who brought this to our attention, to wit:

"People from poor countries come to the United States and other Western nations in order to live more comfortable lives, but what would happen if America became one of those poor countries? Would Americans abandon their homeland to become economic refugees? HBO is developing a TV series that imagines that what-if scenario and given the headlines in the financial papers these days, it seems eerily plausible."