DOING IT ALL

In the midst of global strife, the fiscal cliff and myriad other distractions, mortgage technology would seem far off the radar screens of most business analysts. But it shouldn't be. Mortgage technology has made astounding strides in the last few years in ways that other businesses could only dream of. Many innovations that have come out of the meltdown address those very problems. Yet, it can be argued, that's like dead-bolting the barn door after the horse is gone. The US may be getting chubby as a people, but at least they have lots of belts available. The Sun Belt, the Bible Belt, the Frost Belt, the Grain Belt, the Cotton Belt, the Borsht Belt -- all describe distinctive qualities about their respective regions. And then there's the Rust Belt, the often-maligned corridor or the upper Midwest that once thrummed with manufacturing and heavy industry with its unofficial capital in Detroit.