Tiger Management CEO Julian Robertson sees a long, hard economic road ahead for Americans.

“I don’t think we’ve had the blow to the economy that will eventually come from the wealth devastation that’s occurred over the last several months,” Robertson told Bloomberg TV.

“My opinion is that America is like a family that’s overspent for years, and now it’s got to de-leverage itself,” Robertson says.

“It’s going to take a long, long time for that to be completed.”

Robertson strongly opposes extending bailout help to additional troubled industries under consideration by Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

“Nancy Pelosi wants to throw money in the toilet to save General Motors,” Robertson notes. “The next thing you know Harry Reid will save his casinos.”

“We cannot let this very good package we’ve put together to save the economy continue forever,” Robertson observes. “Too much of a good thing is pretty bad.”

Economist Brad DeLong also says GM should not receive government bailout money.

“We don't like to let financial firms go bankrupt because bankruptcy shuts down their business,” De Long writes in the Baltimore Sun.

“By contrast, there is no good reason not to let non-financial businesses go into chapter 11. They keep running — as businesses — and emerge from bankruptcy or do not.”

“I believe the federal government has an obligation to autoworkers and retirees,” De Long says, “But this obligation is not well-exercised by keeping GM out of bankruptcy.”