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Talking the real estate talk
By Xinhua |
July 5, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
WHEN an economist babbles away about something that's common sense, he might be trying to divert public attention from the real problem.
On June 26, a noted economist (Ed: Cheng Siwei) told a real estate summit that "housing prices will rise over the long term, they just cannot keep falling." Sure, housing prices can't decline all the way, all the time. And in the long run, they may even rise. This is common sense.
Why did an economics guru go out of his way to state such a cliche at a time when the government has been trying to curb runaway housing prices?
In repeating the blindingly obvious, this heavyweight economist was deliberately avoiding two questions: Had China's irrationally high housing prices begun to drop? How much should the prices drop so there's a win-win deal among the consumer, the developer and the government?
Without addressing these core issues, this economist repeated common sense only to find himself talking nonsense, or worse, talking the talk of real estate developers.
On June 26, a noted economist (Ed: Cheng Siwei) told a real estate summit that "housing prices will rise over the long term, they just cannot keep falling." Sure, housing prices can't decline all the way, all the time. And in the long run, they may even rise. This is common sense.
Why did an economics guru go out of his way to state such a cliche at a time when the government has been trying to curb runaway housing prices?
In repeating the blindingly obvious, this heavyweight economist was deliberately avoiding two questions: Had China's irrationally high housing prices begun to drop? How much should the prices drop so there's a win-win deal among the consumer, the developer and the government?
Without addressing these core issues, this economist repeated common sense only to find himself talking nonsense, or worse, talking the talk of real estate developers.
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