Entering the Greatest Economic Depression in History, More Bubbles Waiting to Burst

[Crewleader]

Economics / Great Depression II Aug 09, 2009 - 07:34 AM

By: Global_Research


Andrew G. Marshall writes: While there is much talk of a recovery on the horizon, commentators are forgetting some crucial aspects of the financial crisis. The crisis is not simply composed of one bubble, the housing real estate bubble, which has already burst. The crisis has many bubbles, all of which dwarf the housing bubble burst of 2008. Indicators show that the next possible burst is the commercial real estate bubble. However, the main event on the horizon is the “bailout bubble” and the general world debt bubble, which will plunge the world into a Great Depression the likes of which have never before been seen.

Housing Crash Still Not Over

The housing real estate market, despite numbers indicating an upward trend, is still in trouble, as, “Houses are taking months to sell. Many buyers are having trouble getting financing as lenders and appraisers struggle to figure out what houses are really worth in the wake of the collapse.” Further, “the overall market remains very soft <...> aside from speculators and first-time buyers.” Dean Baker, co-director of the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington said, “It would be wrong to imagine that we have hit a turning point in the market,” as “There is still an enormous oversupply of housing, which means that the direction of house prices will almost certainly continue to be downward.” Foreclosures are still rising in many states “such as Nevada, Georgia and Utah, and economists say rising unemployment may push foreclosures higher into next year.” Clearly, the housing crisis is still not at an end.<1>

The Commercial Real Estate Bubble

In May, Bloomberg quoted Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann as saying, “It's either the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning.” Bloomberg further pointed out that, “A piece of the puzzle that must be calculated into any determination of the depth of our economic doldrums is the condition of commercial real estate -- the shopping malls, hotels, and office buildings that tend to go along with real- estate expansions.” Residential investment went down 28.9 % from 2006 to 2007, and at the same time, nonresidential investment grew 24.9%, thus, commercial real estate was “serving as a buffer against the declining housing market.”

Commercial real estate lags behind housing trends, and so too, will the crisis, as “commercial construction projects are losing their appeal.” Further, “there are lots of reasons to suspect that commercial real estate was subject to some of the loose lending practices that afflicted the residential market. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's Survey of Credit Underwriting Practices found that whereas in 2003 just 2 percent of banks were easing their underwriting standards on commercial construction loans, by 2006 almost a third of them were relaxing.” In May it was reported that, “Almost 80 percent of domestic banks are tightening their lending standards for commercial real-estate loans,” and that, “we may face double-bubble trouble for real estate and the economy.”<2>

In late July of 2009,

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article12607.html

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. TY, Crewleader.

The people who will survive this are the ones who can find the truth behind all the Govertment's attempts to paint a false rosy picure.

[Crewleader]

2. TY, dixiegrrrl

:hug:

[DemReadingDU]

3. So many bubbles

and they all are going to burst

[MercutioATC]

4. That's what happens when long-term planning is replaced by instant gratification.

For decades, we (and, to some extent, the world) have used deficit spending to fuel an unsustainable economy.

What's happening now is an attempt to preserve the unsustainable model by throwing a ton of money at it. That may create the illusion of a "recovery", but it's only going to make an actual return to real values that much more painful.

We created these bubbles...and all bubbles burst. The bigger problem is that we're taking stones from the foundation in an attempt to brighten up the landscaping.

[mother earth]

5. I truly expected more FDR-like measures to be taken, I am

very disappointed. They put a band-aid on a hemorrhage. They won't acknowledge the bleed until it's too late is what I'm afraid of.