If Armstrong is correct, we get our house price crash in 2015, albeit not benefiting anybody who earns or saves in Sterling. All the benefits will be had with those in foreign countries if a falling Sterling is what corrects our house prices. More analysis and links in the thread below.

FOREIGNERS can cash in on a taxpayer-funded scheme to help hard-up families buy new homes, it was revealed last night. They will be able to claim thousands of pounds in subsidies for a deposit. It emerged that non-UK residents from Europe and the rest of the world will be able to buy their first pad here worth up to £600,000 using £130billion of public money. One furious critic branded the scheme “absurd”, and others warned it would boost the “pull factor” which has lured millions of immigrants to Britain.Mortgage brokers are already advising hundreds of foreigners who want to take advantage Sir Andrew Green, of MigrationWatch UK, said: “This is utterly absurd. We are trying to tackle mass immigration, yet at every point we roll out the red carpet.”

To avoid a "second home subsidy", the government must limit the scheme to first-time buyers.

The Bank of England governor says there is "no place in the long run" for George Osborne's plan to boost the housing market. The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has warned that George Osborne's plan to boost the housing market is "too close for comfort" to the US mortgage guarantee schemes that triggered the financial crisis. Speaking in an interview with Sky News' Dermot Murnaghan, Sir Mervyn King said the Help To Buy scheme must not be allowed to become permanent. My comment: what is the UK government (especially a Conservative-dominated government) doing interfering in the housing market anyway? I'm amazed that our government is in the business of using tax-payers money to give interest free loans to people so they can buy overpriced housing.

Former chief credit officer of Frannie Mae explains why seeds of next housing crash are being sown in US. Note similarities with what Osborne in his infinite stupidity is doing here

Any housing 'recovery' in the US is due to government-backed speculation (big players buying cheap job lots of property to rent out). With the 'recovery' of prices and some recapitalisation the banks are now confident enough to start repossessing properties they formerly kept off the market in order to support prices / balance sheets. (Strange that newer mortgages aren't defaulting much - could it be that banks have been more discriminating when they and not the govt are on the hook for losses?) And now banks are negotiating with the govt a plan to 'help' owners to move up, or get on, the 'ladder', i.e. to get the govt to back risky loans, e.g. "exercise more 'flexibility' in lending, with ablity to repay judged 'holistically' rather than by an 'inflexible' rule requiring a big deposit".

After being a gold promoter for such a long time, I suddenly changed. Looking at the charts, gold looks like it wishes to re-test $1000 prior to what could a massive bull market up to where many think the price ought to be. Well, for the time being however, the confidence game seems to have worked. It is quite possible as Martin Armstrong has been saying, that gold could be in a 5 year bear market. Awful news for those hedging against the system. Maybe cash, property and stocks will be king for a few years. Certainly, if the stock market breakout is confirmed, as the gold breakdown has, we can expect that trend to continue for at least two years. Those in Japan, India, Cyprus?! hold onto your gold, but capital seems to be shifting. Only wish I'd spotted this in 2011.

"Doctors, nurses, teachers and local government staff will see the income from their 'gold-plated' public sector pensions slashed by more than a THIRD under the Government's reform plans. Some four million public sector workers will see their retirement income take a huge hit as the Government looks to cut its pension liabilities by a quarter by 2065". However, "those within 10 years of their pension age on April 1, 2012, will be able to take their pension under the current final salary conditions, rather than the new career average". Doesn't this make you want to rush out and sign up for George's new homebuying scheme that will prop up house prices?

"George Murton, 88, died peacefully at the bungalow he cherished in Rainham, Kent, on April 19. Within two hours of his death, his daughter Linda Preston, 65, notified Orbit Housing, who then posted details of the bungalow being available for rent on its website. Would-be tenants were allowed to visit the exterior of the property and even looked through the windows and the letter box as Mr Murton’s body was in his bedroom and the family was holding a wake".Yes, someone will be "reviewing procedures" ...

"Don’t misunderstand this point. Wages did not merely fall relative to inflation in the year to March; they fell outright by 0.7 per cent."