Excellent blog post by Garth Turner on the Real Estate Markets.
On Wednesday many thousands of people swarmed Lower Manhattan. It was part of a movement called OccupyWallStreet. Some marched because they cannot find jobs. Some because they’ve lost their homes. Some because of debt, after costly education for work which doesn’t exist. Some because hope is gone.
This is a seminal movement. It’s harnessed the power of communication, so growth is infinite. Alienated people, in enough numbers, can change everything. So long as it’s apparent that getting a degree, working hard and playing by the rules gets you unrepayable debt, zero job security and no chance at the house or retirement your parents had, alienation will continue. The named target is corporate greed. But it’s a protest against failed expectations.
About the time this was happening, Doug in Vancouver read yesterday’s blog and sent me this:
We’ve been hearing the same fodder from “experts” year after year for the past 5 or 6 years about the unsustainability of Vancouver housing prices…and their apocalyptic opinions continue to be wrong. I assume you don’t live in Vancouver. If you did, you’d know that the local, national and international clientele who have decided to make this beautiful city their home really don’t care about anyone’s household income, or whether people can afford to buy a home here or not. Its not about them…its about those who can afford it here. Simple. Can’t afford it…move to Manitoba.
Kind of makes you want to occupy Yaletown and carry Doug’s head on a stick, doesn’t it?
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