In Spain, some banks have stopped evicting some broke homeowners, following multiple suicides. Spain is now full of formerly middle class homeowners adapting to newfound homelessness. In debt-wracked Greece, an austerity budget has yet to produce hope. Things are so bad in Portugal that citizens are fleeing for the more promising shores of Mozambique. Germany, Europe's only savior, is facing its own economic slowdown. A possible source of relief is hard to find. In Japan, a recession looms.

As foreign students flee their own countries and enroll in our universities in record numbers, it is worthwhile to survey the wrecked economies that dot the globe and reflect upon why this nation of ours, America, is still a shining beacon of hope that attracts the most talented and driven people from around the world to our shores: I have no idea. Probably because if you become CEO of a big financial institution, we won't prosecute you even if you did your level best to destroy the global economy through pure greed. So, you know, one less thing to worry about.

[Photo: Steve Johnson/ Flickr]