The author is insane and/or an ignoramus. There is no apt available in the greater nyc area for $500, and if there is, its got rats and no heat. I live here - article came out in the NY Post last week on how much rents are citywide - pretty much nothing under $1,500 for a studio anywhere.
Now, back in the ‘60s & ‘70s, when butter cost a million dollars a pound, you could get an apt in the East Village for $125 a month. You could get a super duper luxury apt in an upscale neighborhood for $1,000.
Same in S.F.& L.A. - apts in Hollywood rented for $150. Now they are in the thousands. I’ll take the expensive butter any day if I can go back to 1970s rent.
You're missing the forest for that tree. The progressive welfare state is not sustainable.
21.44 Germany OK. Still AAA. Portugal is not. Rating cut by two notches. It's now considered below investment grade, or "junk".
21.39 Italy cut two notches to BBB+. Austria also loses its AAA crown, down one notch to AA+.
21.38 Right, they are coming thick and fast now. Spain has been downgraded two notches to "A", from "AA-".
Finland is OK. Still AAA
21.36 BREAKING NEWS
SURPRISE! S&P downgrades France by one notch to AA+. The outlook is negative, which means the country could face further downgrades.