patrick.net

There are so many bad things that can happen.

Eg. the 10 year moving through 5%. Given all the debt we have to reissue every month now I don't even want to think about it.

Wage inflation is only going to come via price shocks to the wage-earning population we call J6P. Back in the 1970s J6P could get cost-of-living salary adjustments with employers as the system inflated up & out.

But these days many J6Ps are competing with the Wangs and Kumars of the world making a fraction of US wages, and increasing personal productivity is making many office and industrial jobs redundant even without offshoring pressures.

Plus so much of our economy is BS consumption, marketing, F/I/RE, and that's not even considering the $700 billion we're spending on war. That's seven million $100K/yr jobs, with limited actual wealth creation that will benefit us in the future.

If the US of A had a 10-K, I think we'd have a Going Concern warning from the auditors.

E-man says

Home prices will increase 5% compared to 2009.

This is going to depend on prevailing interest rates. If they stay under 5%, perhaps. If not, I fail to see how this is going to be possible, unless other "affordability" measures are taken like outright payment assistance.

Bubbles never deflate in a straight line. The current bounce in home prices in some markets is almost entirely the result of artificial lowering of interest rates coupled with govt spending through tax credits and loose credit money with HUD. E-man makes an interesting prediction, but I'll take the other side.. home prices will drop 10% average nationwide in 2010 as compared to 2009 even with massive govt deficit spending to prop it up. The S&P will hit a euphoric 1350 on the "hope" that things are turning around before sliding below 800

Well, no one's gonna call you Nostrodamus for predicting what everyone else says - a smidge up, a smidge down. I'll say 25% price increase nationwide.

(I sure hope not)

What Zippy says sounds about right. Troy as well.