Quote from day7793:
Just remember: Real estate prices always go up in the long term and have done so in the last 80 years.
Real estate prices are a function of money supply and inflation as well. If we had a deflationary fed policy, i guarantee you real estate would have gone nowhere or down. The case schiller chart's parabolic move is a little skewed incorrectly. look to shadowstats for an explanation (basically the recent inflation index #s are wrong).
but the point is made, and it takes many yrs for prices to recover.
These things don't bounce back quickly.
Japan does certainly have vulnerabilities, and I doubt our chart will look as poor.
Just remember: currency and underlying asset valuations are a function of political policy. Japan's story is reflective of its central bank intervention policy as well as cultural values.
Deflationary spirals are a death knell for investment - why would anyone want to invest when their businesses will yield less on principal going forward? ie Would you drill for natural gas today at today's exorbitant drilling costs if you thought natural gas price would go down long term going forward? Of course not; you'd barely be able to recover your investment. The US had a deflationary environment net post civil war to early 1900s, and it *was* a problem just as much as the rapid inflation we have now is.
This explains past success of US central banks despite all the Ron Paul supporters who bitch about fed policy devaluing the dollar. Japan's lack of aggressive intervention has hurt it.
We need to fix things, though ... Nothing a refunneling of defense spending into energy research and energy infrastructure buildout couldn't fix. There's still enough of a wealth base in the US to revive domestic manufacturing, the currency, etc while getting prices under control (by fixing the energy/commodity problem, elimininating cost-push inflationary pressures)