Perhaps Economists Should Be Picking Vegetables

Greetings Patrick,

When San Joaquin Valley houses  were selling in the half million dollar range,
my parents were just about to give up on California and move to Texas. This
summer, they purchased a house in Los Banos, CA for about a third of what it
appraised for in 2005. They have just purchased another house in the same
neighborhood (1500 square feet) for $109,000. They are now the proud owners of
TWO desirable suburban houses-free and clear, no mortgage. By the standards of
my peers, they are doing great. They managed to do this by dilligently saving
over many decades. My father is a ranch foreman with no formal education. My
mother was lucky-she made it to the second grade. It was abundantly clear to
them that the housing market was insane and due for a catastrophic collapse
based upon the anecdotal evidence they saw around them,i.e., half million dollar
homes in places where people are lucky to make $10/hr. If you are an economist
and did not see this coming, you should seriously reconsider the value of your
education and maybe do something with a tangible value to society, like picking
vegetables.

Sincerely,
Efrain Rojas