Don't Panic
The daily reports, facts, figures, surveys, opinions, projections and press releases are starting to dry up. The daily obsession with minor fluctuations in property value has taken a back seat as the economy goes into free fall.
Don’t misunderstand me, house prices are still plummeting like stock brokers from balconies it is just there is something better for the press to sink their teeth into; total global financial meltdown.
A meltdown is always good, whether it be the icecaps or the markets because doom is always better than boom when it comes to shifting copy. People, especially in this country, love it when it all goes tits up. It justifies a constantly negative attitude to the future.
To say that all is peachy on the financial front at the moment would be more than a little naive but the sandwich board of doom is a little premature. This is what markets do, sometimes they crash and crash hard. It is just mathematics, you run a complex system with many variables for long enough and it will eventually do something you are not too chuffed with.
At the same time it shows the power of initial variables on a whole system. What started as subprime lending problem in the property markets has snowballed into a global downturn. If an unscrupulous mortgage lender in Detroit flaps his wings then it can cause an earthquake in Iceland, or something along those lines.
Just as these markets inevitably crash they also inevitably get up, dust themselves off and continue about their day. As of lunchtime today no one has suggested a feasible alternative to capitalism so the revolution may have to wait, status quo will soon be resumed.
The fact that this economic situation has being compared to every other recession since the Stone age should give a clue to the nature of recessions, they happen, often several times in a person’s lifetime. Collapses are just something you have to grin and bare. Things might be a little rough for a while but we are a long way from Steinbeck territory just yet.
Putting down the papers and breathing for a few seconds could really do everyone a world of good. The problem is not going away but that feeling of anxiety just might let up for a second. Constant exposure to negative copy can seriously damage your mental health.
Things are bad but they will get better, if for some unlikely reason they don’t, then we will have to deal with it. There is no point worrying, just do what you have to do when the opportunity presents itself. At the end of the day it isn’t the end of days.
More Recent News
- New Year same trouble Alex Coxall 6 Jan. 2009 The 2009 RICS forecast predicts a further fall this year of 10% in average property price, which would mean a peak to trough drop of 25%. The predictions are based on the continued reluctance of lenders to lend and the increasingly glum economic climate we are facing. Read more
- Darling considers credit guarantees Bloomberg.com 11 Dec. 2008 Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling is considering credit guarantees for households and companies to spur bank lending, a person familiar with the plan said. Read more
- Rics figures show November fall Alex Coxall 11 Dec. 2008 Figures released by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) show that property prices have continued to decline during November. Read more
- Price drop slows slightly Alex Coxall 27 Nov. 2008 The rate of house price drop fell in November according to figures released by Nationwide today. The market however remains nearly 14 % lower than it was a year ago, as buyers remain worried and lending remains curbed. Read more
- Housing market Downfall 27 Nov. 2008 Famous scene from an award winning film reworked. Read more
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