forbes.com — The trouble in the commercial real estate markets is getting ugly. Speculative-grade debt issuers are bracing for the default rate to hit 12% to 14% by the end of 2009. The current long-term average default rate is 4.5%; and as recently as 2007, it was just under 1%.
Dec 9, 2009 View in Crawl 4
rsthn62Dec 10, 2009
"if american political parties are very similar you should be asking yourself who is to blame for the lack of choice? why do americans not create substantially different parties - it is the land of the free is it not?"The answer to that is that our election system creates the situation. We use a 'first past the post' philosophy, which means that whatever candidate wins 50%+1 of the vote in a particular region wins 100% of the power in that region. This means that there is literally no room for a third national party, since if they start gaining a significant amount of votes, 1 of 3 things happens.a) They never manage to actually reach any positions of power (or capture much less than they hoped for) and fizzle out due to lack of enthusiasm and support. (Reform Party)b) They gain a large enough percentage of the vote for one of the big 2 parties to notice and start co-opting their platform with the intention of splitting their vote. (Libertarian Party, eaten up by the Republican Party)c) A major party dies and the third party takes their place. (Republicans replace the Whigs)If our government is to have more than 2 dominant parties, a representational system must be used somewhere on the federal level. While it wouldn't work very well in the Senate since each state only has 2 representatives there, the House of Representatives would be a perfect place to implement it. Currently the only federal-level elections that use representational voting are the Democratic presidential primaries, where each candidate earns a percentage of delegates from each state equal to the percentage of the vote they received from that state. If representational elections were even only used in the House, it would go a very long way towards making more than two powerful parties in America a viable possibility.
matthewt69Dec 10, 2009
I agree - your election system is not as democratic as it could be. On the other hand a very large proportion of Americans do not even bother to vote. I think your politicians would quickly take notice, notwithstanding the flawed system, if everyone voted and expressed their preferences. If most Americans want a government further to the left, or further to the right, all they have to do is let this be known and the politicians will follow.
dundamanDec 10, 2009
@gleongelpi Good luck to you. I can't imagine how tough it must be. My self I am just starting out in life and after this whole mess of the past few years I do not plan to buy into this bulls**t. I have my cousins telling me I need a big screen TV, friends saying I need to buy a house, but I know thats not the s**t I am looking for. I hope you find something to help you through this. You seem like someone who deserves that at least.@ esb Good luck to you too!
rrwestDec 10, 2009
The stock market has always shown people what wealthy investors are willing to pay for stocks.It is not a good indicator of economic recovery or activity.It is like posting how much diamond rings cost for customers of Tiffany's.Not valid as a measure at all.
hornyangelDec 12, 2009
Yes.. Let's give him an "atta boy" and a pat on the back. Just confirm the man for one more term at the Fed, for the love of Jeebus. /s
joe8packMar 2, 2010
Yer a cheeful sort....
joe8packMar 2, 2010
will the empire end in a whimper or a bang? I'd say were suffering through the early pangs of peak oil, along with of course 3 decades of unregulated,unprosecuted financial fraud. Just for frosting on the cake we've exported most of our industries to the 3rd world using unfair inequitable "free trade agreements" and now we are buying toxic food and goods from those we gave our jobs to. Seems a fair trade, look at the great prices. Anybody got a job left?