Could the US housing bubble pop like it did in 2008? Professor Richard Wolff shares his analysis of the ongoing housing boom, and what the effects of the hot market could be.
He tells Boom Bust that when it comes to the issue of housing, inflation is “very extreme” in a number of countries, with price movements similar to those seen before the real estate market collapsed back in 2008.
“The problem now is the big speculators – Wall Street banks, venture capital outfits, equity investors – all in there, buying record numbers of housing wherever they think they are going to make a killing,” the host of Economic Update explains. “They are gambling, correctly, I believe, that American inequality is getting worse, that therefore the number of Americans that can afford housing, even before you take into account the rising prices, is a falling number. And that therefore people will not be buying the way they once did, they will be renting because they have to.”
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