And if all these pending prognostications of doom are correct in their predictions of a collapse in housing prices, then the deflationary cycle will push interest rates right back down again.  That's the inconvenient truth that so many refuse to acknowledge.

To those of you lusting for interest rates like we had back in the 70's, 80's and 90's, you can continue to dream of bygone days, but the fact is that interest rates of 6%, 7% or 8% are extremely unlikely in the next few decades, for a host of reasons, including deflationary technology trends and demographic factors that won't disappear until the last of the baby boomers is in his/her nineties.

Folks need to learn to adjust retirement expectations to appropriately factor these new realities, rather than whining and crying foul about some sort of nefarious schemes perpetrated by central banks to "steal their retirement interest savings"... that's all I have to say.