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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Pogeu Mahone who wrote (183958)	2/14/2009 8:43:51 PM
From: Asymmetric	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

Ireland ‘could default on debt’ Iain Dey / Times Online February 15, 2009 business.timesonline.co.uk FEARS are mounting that Ireland could default on its soaring national debt pile, amid continuing worries about its troubled banking sector. The cost of buying insurance against Irish government bonds rose to record highs on Friday, having almost tripled in a week. Debt-market investors now rank Ireland as the most troubled economy in Europe. Simon Johnson, the former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, called for this weekend’s meeting of G7 finance ministers to put Ireland’s troubles at the top of the agenda. Johnson said: “Don’t, please, tell me more about the basic principles of financial reform unless and until you have addressed the Irish problem. And don’t tell me the Irish have to sort this out for themselves. Eventually, the world always comes to help; check your notes on Iceland. “It’s much better and much cheaper to come in early and decisively. We need a plan of action for Ireland, and we need it now.” Pledges made by Ireland to support its banking sector amount to 220% of the country’s annual economic output. The total loans held in Irish banks are more than 11 times the size of the economy. Following the scandal at Anglo Irish Bank over undisclosed loans, the market fears there are more hidden problems that could ultimately fall to the state to resolve. With Ireland set to borrow an additional €15 billion (£13.4 billion) this year, the national debt pile will hit €70 billion. The cost of insuring Irish debt hit 350 basis points on Friday, meaning that for every £100 of debt it would cost £3.50 to insure against default. A year ago it would have cost 10p to insure every £100 of Irish debt. One possible solution would see Germany buy billions of euros of Irish government debt through a fund set up by the European Central Bank.

To: Pogeu Mahone who wrote (183958)	2/14/2009 8:48:43 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

today’s crisis most closely resembles the “Long Depression,” which stretched, by one definition, from 1873 to 1896...... 23 years of depression. That´s too long for me! This is really depressing.

To: Pogeu Mahone who wrote (183958)	2/15/2009 12:28:22 AM
From: pheilman_	Respond to of 306849

Great article, the most apropos for this area: But in the heady days of the housing bubble, some Sun Belt cities—Phoenix and Las Vegas are the best examples—developed economies centered largely on real estate and construction. With sunny weather and plenty of flat, empty land, they got caught in a classic boom cycle. Although these places drew tourists, retirees, and some industry—firms seeking bigger footprints at lower costs—much of the cities’ development came from, well, development itself. At a minimum, these places will take a long, long time to regain the ground they’ve recently lost in local wealth and housing values. It’s not unthinkable that some of them could be in for an extended period of further decline. You may want to wait just a bit longer on that Vegas purchase.