The U.S. real estate market, which was central to the global financial crisis, remains deeply troubled, and a full recovery could be years away, according to industry experts and analysts at the W. P. Carey School of Business.

In the midst of one of the worst financial crises the country has seen in decades, one man is optimistic about America's future. Barry Asmus is senior economist at the National Center for Policy Analysis, a non-profit, non-partisan public policy research organization.

Many economists and policy makers are stating that the current financial crisis demonstrates that markets and capitalism are flawed and must be regulated and controlled, if not destroyed.

America is yanking in the welcome mat for foreign travelers. Thanks to government policies that make visas difficult to obtain and that intimidate visitors at U.S.

About 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — do not have health insurance, according to the latest U.S. Census data. Approximately $100 billion would be needed to provide them with coverage. Can we afford it? And where would the money come from?

We've begun to feel the pain of a recession in the real economy and that pain will get worse before it gets better. So far in 2008, job losses have averaged about 85,000 per month, but in September the number was 159,000.

In the last month, financial markets came as close to collapsing as they have since the Great Depression, and the root of their woes was frozen credit markets. The crisis sparked several weeks of furious and futile improvisation by U.S. regulators and lawmakers.

There's no doubt about it: Americans want choices. In education. In mail services. And in health care, too — even if the government is picking up the tab.

Forty-seven percent of registered voters say that health care is an extremely important consideration in their vote for president, according to a June CNN/Opinion Research Corporation Poll.

Candidates for public utility commissions are on ballots across the country this fall. Those who win seats will determine the regulations and rates that govern public utility companies. It's an important job.