Word: direness
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Life tenures aren't the norm around Harvard, and administrators phase in and out of posts, but 2009 was host to a few surprising resignations—and they didn't bode too well for a University in dire need of the best advice and talent during a time of especial fiscal constraints. In late May, Harvard announced that its then-Executive Vice President Edward C. Forst '82 would leave the University for Wall Street, where he had worked for 26 years. But Forst was not the only high-profile finance administrator to leave the University at the tail...
...with the exception of October's 75% - the lowest it's been since 1984. Because of the entry of women into the workforce, the ratio trended upward from the 1960s through the 1990s. If you look just at men ages 25 to 54, the picture is much more dire. Their employment-to-population ratio of 80.6% in November is the lowest since the BLS began keeping track in 1948. It's 4 percentage points lower than it was in the depths of the early-1980s downturn...
Early this year, the company was in the grip of what Murren calls an "intense, very dire liquidity crisis." MGM Mirage's joint partner on CityCenter, the Dubai World subsidiary Infinity World, had sued MGM Mirage and stopped putting money into the project. Unable to find other sources of capital, the casino company was left with two choices: walk away from CityCenter or try to work out a deal with MGM Mirage's bankers. (See the 10 worst business deals...
...Sahara just announced plans to temporarily close rooms in two of its three towers. One of the early selling points of CityCenter was that a slate of condos was planned to give the project some semblance of urbane flair. But the high-rise-condo market is in dire shape. Murren says MGM Mirage has 50% of its condos under contract, but it also recently announced a 30% price reduction to lure in new buyers as well a financing package to help buyers afford to close the deal...
...daunting challenges, starting with a budget deficit of at least $275 million and a nearly 30% unemployment rate. Detroit also needs to attract and retain a sizable middle class - of any hue - which is difficult given the sorry state of schools, public security and business. The situation is so dire, the state of Michigan may seize control of Detroit in the coming months. "With the kind of challenges the city is going to face," Cockrel says, "I can make a better contribution not at that table but from another place...