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Tag: credit bubble

  • Late Daily round-up for Monday, September 13, 2010
    SEPTEMBER 14, 2010

    The content of this blog continues to go mainstream.  We had a couple of survey results released yesterday, the content of which supports what has been said on this wretched blog.  My brother used to post some of my email commentary on his blog.  You can look back through the archive to see for yourself that so much of what is now playing out in the media has been warned about for some time now.

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  • The Great Connection…
    OCTOBER 05, 2010

    One of the big goals of this blog is to examine the relationship between Canadian house prices, consumer spending, employment, and the Canadian economy in general. If you've been reading this blog for any time at all now, you'll know that I believe that real estate in much of Canada is significantly overvalued when compared to historical measures of fundamental value.

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  • We’re different!
    OCTOBER 29, 2010

    I was unable to find the time to write up a post yesterday, despite some interesting data points worth discussing. Luckily, others in the blogosphere were on the ball, so I'm not going to discuss topics that have been well covered elsewhere.

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  • Suggested reading
    NOVEMBER 03, 2010

    Yesterday I mentioned that my view on the sustainability of our debt-based economy in general, and real estate in particular has largely been shaped by a handful of books. I've received quite a few emails asking me for the titles of the books. Rather than emailing everyone, I'll instead list a handful of the important books that influenced my macro economic views, in no particular order. I've also included some commentary on the books and on how they've shaped my convictions in certain areas. Irrational Exuberance (2000)- Robert Shiller

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  • The Big Picture
    NOVEMBER 14, 2010

    Let's get something on the table once and for all: Are we facing an American-style housing meltdown? We are likely NOT! Any rational person who has objectively looked at some of the lending antics that went on during the American boom times has to concede that we never reached those same levels of irrationality. The US market experienced more speculation, more overbuilding, and more outrageous lending practices. Even the most ardent bear (and I count myself among them) has to admit this.

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  • Canada's credit bubble
    DECEMBER 07, 2010

    Stats Canada has released some updated data tables for consumer and mortgage credit. Let's have some fun and look at the growth in credit vs. the growth in income and inflation over the same period. Total inflation growth according to the Bank of Canada

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  • The Great Mortgage Amortization Debate
    DECEMBER 14, 2010

    The Amortization Debate You'll recall that bank CEOs of all people are now putting pressure on Flaherty and Harper to curb debt levels by, among other things, raising down payment requirements and/or shortening maximum mortgage amortization lengths.

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  • Guest Post: Bubbles and Blunderbuss
    JANUARY 22, 2011

    (Note from Ben: The following is a guest post from 'John in Ottawa', a frequent commenter on this site. I have added a few of my own thoughts at the end of the post) Recently, Canada’s Finance Minister Flaherty announced new regulations tightening CMHC insured mortgage and lending standards.

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  • Demographia Housing Affordability Survey released
    JANUARY 24, 2011

    7th annual Demographia Housing Affordability survey released Demographia has released its 7th annual housing affordability survey. The report examines the housing markets across the English speaking world by comparing the mean multiple (essentially the house price to income ratio) of various cities, highlighting land use regulations, and looking at other factors that influence price.

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  • So much for the ‘conservative’ Canadian consumer: Another look at Canada’s credit bubble
    MARCH 30, 2011

    The 'conservative' Canadian consumer has been often cited as one of the primary reasons for Canada's miraculous escape from the depths of the Great Recession. In fact, earlier this week, the deputy governor of the Bank of Canada attributed our ability to largely side step the worst of the recession to our, "relatively strong household balance sheets".

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  • Credit bites back
    NOVEMBER 30, 2011

    Readers may be interested in a fascinating paper by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco titled, "When Credit Bites Back: Leverage, Business Cycles, and Crises."   It's a must-read. Some key findings:

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