What troubles me about these articles is that they need to be written. The precautionary motive dictates that firms and investors are not going to part with their cash willingly unless a sound return is deemed sufficiently plausible. This was why when consumer confidence, and hence spending, shut down, so did investment.

As I write, the UK lies firmly in the middle of a housing bubble. When it will end, how it will end, and for what reasons are still unknown. As is the potential severity of the aftermath.

The collapse of the American Housing Bubble triggered the Great Recession. This was because of the fall in equity affected most heavily those on middle and (primarily) lower incomes. Predictably, it hit their basic spending like a hammer, thus causing a drastic drop in demand.

Similarly, in the UK such a potential outcome could be seen as very likely. Yet the bubble continues to grow, aided and abetted by government policy. Any economy that functions purely on asset bubbles is forever living on the edge of a volcano. So what is the logic behind it all?