http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/08/20/bcnswiss20.xml
Top Swiss banker attacks US lending standards as ‘unbelievable’
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard and Yvette Essen
Last Updated: 12:15am BST 21/08/2007
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Switzerland’s top banker has warned of massive losses from the unfolding credit crisis, describing the collapse in US lending standards as “unbelievable”.
Jean-Pierre Roth, president of the Swiss National Bank, said market turmoil was far from over as tremors from the sub-prime debacle continued to rock the world.
“We’re certainly not at the end of the story. There are question marks surrounding the development of the American economy,” he said. “Something unbelievable happened. People who had neither income nor capital got credit with very attractive conditions. Now reality is striking back,” he said.
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No money down, low interest rate, no documentation.
Was it any wonder that the real estate market exploded. One way to avoid inflation, (i.e., the counterfeiting of money), is to buy real estate.
And I am sure the local komisars were not unhappy with the run up. In New Jersey, property taxes are based on “value”.
What a joke!
And, are we hurting America’s productivity by having people locked in a location by home they are tied to. That, as opposed to a rental apartment, where if they found a job in a different geography, moving was not out of the question.
Can anyone not in a city ever walk to work? Or, perhaps telecommuting is going to make a big comeback?
Having said that, perhaps now is the time to find bargains?
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Reinke Faces Life 