Teribus, would that have been the social housing stock that the Government would not allow councils to invest in, with maintenance etc, until they sold it all off - often to ridiculous arms-length housing associate]ions? Whatever it was, getting rid of it was a big mistake. Other countries across Europe have much lower levels of home ownership than the post-Thatcher UK - and consequently they are much less vulnerable than the UK to "corrections" in property values. Like Vince Cable said a couple of days ago, homes are for living in. They are not gambling chips.

As for your bizarre belief that the economy is just some "abstract beast," well... sometimes I begin to wonder if you've got a brain.