Tad Rivelle, chief investment officer for Fixed Income at TCW group, speaks at the Reuters Investment Outlook Summit in New York in this December 8, 2010 file photo. More than three years after the financial crisis struck, the U.S. economy remains stuck in a consumer debt trap. It's a situation that could take years to correct itself. That's why some economists are calling for a radical step: massive debt relief. Federal policy makers, they suggest, should broker what amounts to an out-of-court settlement between institutional bond investors, banks and consumer advocates - essentially, a "great haircut" to jumpstart the economy. What some are envisioning is a negotiated process in which cash-strapped homeowners get real mortgage relief, even if it means forcing banks to incur severe write-downs and bond investors to absorb haircuts, or losses, in some of the securities sold by those institutions. Picture taken December 8, 2010. To match Special Report MARKETS/HAIRCUT REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/Files (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS REAL ESTATE)