black swan, page-21

iron_mike,

You said:

"Not much consolation to all of us out here in the real world - many of whom now can't even afford the mortgage - and many families facing despair and disaster."

You really need to go out of the house now and then to see the real world, instead of staying inside reading only the propaganda sheets emailed to you by your mates in the Liberal Head Quarter.

Time to catch up with the real wold, starting with this:

The economy: John Howard's Achilles' heel

Quotes from the above:

"Having campaigned for years on the basis of his economic credentials, John Howard faces the 2007 election with his economic reputation under serious challenge from rising interest rates, mortgage stress, job insecurity and fears of a downturn in economic activity."

"In the first 80 years of the 20th-century, Australia's net foreign debt rose to about $23 billion. Between 1983 and 1996, it rose to $180 billion. Over the past 11 years, it has rocketed to over $520 billion. The alarm bells have been sounded by many people, including Dr Chris Richardson of Access Economics, Dr Peter Brain, and John Edwards, chief economist of HSBC.

End of quote.

What were you saying ? "mortgage stress", "debts" ?

What about the $520 billion debts mentioned in the article ?