[rogerhb]

First from Australia, 27th of September

RBA warns of 'meltdown'

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('NEWS.com.au', 'F')URTHER rises in oil prices, the collapse of a major bank or an unexpected jump in inflation could be all it takes to send the increasingly fragile global financial system into meltdown.

The Reserve Bank of Australia warned yesterday that the current calm in financial markets could be the prelude to a storm that could wreak havoc in the world economy.
The RBA believes the boom in markets for shares, bonds and housing in many countries is unsustainable.

The warning came as share prices in Australia reached a new high point, while a rush to invest in Australian bonds is pushing down long-term interest rates.

[Macsporan]

First straws in a storm...laisezz-faire capitalism: so much fun it hurts.

[rogerhb]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Macsporan', 'F')irst straws in a storm.

[Macsporan]

At long last it's closing time in the Gardens of the West...

...while the renovations are completed.

[skiwi]

[url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10350655]Australia says pricey oil is a major global risk
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High, volatile oil prices are a major risk to the world economy, Australia's treasurer said yesterday, announcing a plan by the G20 group of developed and developing countries to tackle the issue of resource security.

Demand for resources from rising economic powers and their desire for secure supply would become a key issue, Peter Costello said after a meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors near Beijing.

"A major risk that the ministers and governors saw to the world economy came from lasting high and volatile oil prices," Costello told a closing news conference....

[url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=3&ObjectID=10350694]House prices stall in September
[/url]
New Zealand house prices stalled in September, with no change to the national median of $290,000, Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ) figures out today show.

Sales were healthy, however, with 9186 houses sold by institute members during the month, compared with 8537 in August -- indicating there is still strong confidence in the market, despite economists' predictions of an impending slow down.

House prices were 16 per cent higher than in September 2004.

[MicroHydro]

NZ housing prices will fall 50% in real terms within the next 5 years. How much will be nominal decline, and how much will be due to inflation is unknown. But it will happen.

When one can rent a 4 beadroom home in a good neighborhood for $400 a week, but the mortgage payments on same home are $1000 a week, something is deeply wrong. There is only one way to resolve this.