Bring it on!

Maybe my utterly unreasonable dream of owning a small house of my own to live in (note: NOT an investment, a HOME) isn't quite so bonkers after all...

So, this underlying economy...

Brown keeps going on about, and it's "fundamental strength" compared to the banking sector. Hmm, what about this and this? Inflation and unemployment at their highest level for sixteen/seventeen years? Predictions that unemployment could hit 3m by next Christmas?

I'd like to know what Brown's idea of "fundamental strength" is.

M'aidez! M'aidez!

Continuing the French theme on bubble and crashes, this news item. As well as the good news about prices continuing to fall, we have this additional, unexpected nugget:

Estate agents sold on average under one property per week each in September.

Sounds like quite a few of the snakes will be going out of business as well. I wouldn't normally cheer unemployment for anyone, but I'll make an exception for estate agents, lawyers, journalists, MPs, anyone who works for the council, anyone involved in enforcing the smoking ban...I'll get back to you on the rest of the list.

Enrichissez-vous!

Laban is wondering why the reaction to the current crisis is to prop up the bubble for a few more years, not to fix it:

As far as I can see he wants to solve the crisis by restoring the property overvaluation - in which case we may get another collapse in a few more years.

The problem is, all of the people who matter - the political class, the media, those who run the great finance houses - benefit from this bubble. Either they rely upon the votes of homeowners, or they own extensive property which they do not want to see devalued, or their incomes rely directly on a soaring stockmarket. They want to hang on for a few years more to make their packet and get out.

As we approach the election, if house prices are still dropping sharply I expect this venal corrupt swarm to propose that the state protects 'homeowners' and boosts the housing market (i.e. raise prices again). They will use taxpayers money to do it. After all, there will be votes in that, and we are in a Democracy, aren't we?