Word: problem
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...bigger problem is the tanking economy. Lose a job, and paying the mortgage becomes more of an issue. Since the house is worth less than you owe on it, you can pretty much forget about refinancing or selling, the old get-out-of-jail-free cards when you could no longer make your payments. So maybe we should be most worried about the 50% of homes that are underwater in the Detroit area. Or - odd as it may sound - Rhode Island, where the unemployment rate, at 10%, is second only to Michigan, and where 15.7% of mortgage holders are underwater...
...Another trend: a creeping problem in the Midwest. It's true that property markets never went wild in Des Moines, Iowa, or Omaha, Neb., the way they did in Merced, Calif., and Fort Myers, Fla., but this means even modest declines in home values can erase equity, especially for recent buyers who have less of a cushion against falling prices. In Iowa, 18.6% of homeowners have negative equity; in Nebraska the figure is 16.6% (both jumped more than three percentage points from September). (See pictures of struggling Cleveland...
...which unemployment increases until labor costs fall to a nearly unimaginable level. Businesses will begin to hire again because they will have access to skilled workers at a fraction of what those people would have cost them a year ago. If that is the solution to the labor problem, the end of the recession is a long way from here...
...Quarantine, the State Food and Drug Administration and the ministries of health, agriculture, commerce and industry. Such division among several government bureaus has long been considered a shortcoming of the Chinese safety system, as various agencies have battled for control and potential revenue from fines. "It's a problem," says Hu Dinghuan, a researcher with the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. "There are too many responsible departments." He advocates putting more of the burden on the private sector. (Read "China's Melamine Woes Likely to Get Worse...
...Part of the problem is the unevenness of enforcement. While China boasts many practical and well-considered regulations, its legal system still struggles with corruption and a willingness of some local authorities to prioritize growth over health and safety. "I do consider the new law a good thing, but it will take time to implement it," says Hu Xiaosong, a professor at the China Agricultural University Food Safety Technological Center. "For example, we have had a traffic law for years, but to this day, there are still people jaywalking at every street corner. Don't expect the law will bring...