Don't Brag About Being In This Top 10

May 14, 2010

by Al Doyle

A certain amount of pride normally comes with being part of a top 10 list, but Californians can't strut about an eighth-place finish in the 10 most likely nations and states that could default on debt obligations. Even though Greece has gotten the bulk of attention on this issue, Venezuela, Argentina and Pakistan are the leading candidates for a collapse, according to the report published on www.blacklistednews.com.

Residents of New York and Illinois might be annoyed with being snubbed in favor of California, as those states are in equally dire shape.

Speaking of Illinois, the state has quit payingmany bills and contracted obligations. Sources indicate the state is $4.4 billion inthe hole since October 2009 for everything from local school funding andpayments to vendors and service providers.

AP reports, "Illinois is on track to end the current fiscal year with about $6 billion in unpaid bills. Budget proposals for the coming year - when the state faces a $13 billion deficit - assume the same thing will happen again.

"The state owes all kinds of service providers such as home care for the elderly and disabled, and day care for the working poor. . .Some school districts have tried to shame Illinois into paying by posting signs announcing how much the state owes. The web site IllinoisIsBroke.com details the state's financial mess."

Even Detroit's few upper-income neighborhoods are feeling the effects of the city's decades-long decline. An abandonedhome in the stately Palmer Woods subdivision is scheduled for demolition.The 5000-square foot building was the childhood home of Mitt Romney. It sold for $645,000 in 2002, but the home has been through multiple foreclosures since then.

Mayor Dave Bing has called for wholesale demolition of abandoned homes that have often been turned into drug dens. While the plan to level 3,000 homes this summer is a sign of progress, there are an estimated 90,000 abandoned buildings and vacant lots in the Detroit citylimits.

The Austrian Mint has sold more gold and silver in the first half of May than in the entire first quarter of 2010. The mint has added a third shift to meet surging demand.