The troubled subprime mortgage market, along with growing household and corporate debt, ranked as the top short-term threat to the U.S. economy in a recent survey by the National Association for Business Economics.The mortgage concerns displaced terrorism and the Middle East, which topped the survey’s list in March, as the largest immediate danger to the economy.Some 258 association members were surveyed for the study, which was conducted from July 24 to Aug. 14. Some 20 percent listed the Middle East as their top concern in August, down from 35 percent in March. Meanwhile, 32 percent listed the subprime meltdown and debt as their largest worries.Also, 29 percent of respondents called the boom a "serious national bubble," compared with 14 percent in August 2005. The percentage citing "easier credit standards" as the top one or two reasons for the boom climbed to 64 percent from 34 percent in 2005. And 42 percent said they expect home prices to be flat over the next five years, while 41 percent project that prices will rise and 16 percent expect them to fall.

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