Hi Passive,Sure, Japan is a unique case, no argument from me...

Hi Passive,
Sure, Japan is a unique case, no argument from me there.
Not knowing anything about the Sth African economy I'll take your word for it that Sth Africa has a high inflation rate, and therefore, debts are devalued.

But lets unpack this a bit - how has inflation occurred there? Has it been achieved through higher wages (increased productivity & innovation) or has it been achieved by debt? If its achieved by debt then they are hosed. I was in Cape Town for a few weeks in 2009 & was stunned to see fractional home ownership being very common. If that isn't runaway house prices thanks to loose lending credit I don't know what is.

As for 'Bernanke and co will have policy geared to inflation well before that happens', well I will rephrase a comment above and that is Bernanke & Co get a huge 'fail' on that score. They have thrown the kitchen sink at the problem & have failed to get housing restarted. In fact, the money has ended up elsewhere - the DOW, commodities and gold for example, but not in their housing market.

So, again, im not convinced house sector bulls can rely on loose monetary policy to get them out of a jam. Its worked time & again in this country for the past 30-odd years, but mate, Im not convinced it will again.