Lower house prices and the route to happiness

There are plenty of commentators who can quash the illusion that rising property wealth brings about more benefits than costs. Few are better at the task than the economist Roger Bootle.

In today’s Telegraph he provides a superb critique of the impact of the decade long housing boom. This is tremendous evaluation for students preparing for their unit 3 AQA paper on housing economics next week.

Roger writes:

“There have been millions of people whose lives have been distorted by property considerations - people forced to move, or prevented from moving, forced to commute long distances and/or live apart from their families, people who have refrained from having more children, or indeed any at all, because they could not afford decent accommodation. As house prices fall, these people’s life choices will be different.”

The remainder of the article is here

Revision Presentation: Economics Evaluation Skills [10 Jan 2012]
AS and A2 Economics - 10 Ways to Improve Evaluation [4 Jan 2012]
Exam Technique for Economics - Weesteps to Evaluation [2 Jan 2012]
Unit 2 Macro: The UK Housing Market in 2011 [26 Dec 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: Empty Housing and Economic Efficiency [15 Dec 2011]
Behavioural Economics: Herd Behaviour [28 Nov 2011]
UK Macro: Risks of a Double Dip Recession [12 Sep 2011]
Starter Video: The Slums of Manilla [11 Sep 2011]
Unit 1 Micro: FirstBuy, Affordability and Effective Demand in Property [10 Jul 2011]
Chinese inward investment in the London property market [12 Jun 2011]
A2 Macro: Consumer Spending [30 May 2011]
AS economics: Using the cost-benefit principle [18 May 2011]
AS Macro: Extended House Price Deflation? [5 May 2011]
AS Micro: Importance of Elasticity of Supply [23 Apr 2011]
AS Macro Key Term: Bubble [4 Apr 2011]
Exam Advice: Putting Things in Context [1 Apr 2011]
Timetric: Mortgage Lending and Mortgage Rates [14 Mar 2011]
Combining monetary and fiscal policy to curb inflation in China [16 Feb 2011]
David Smith on Shifting Sands in the Global Economy [8 Feb 2011]
Economics Q&A: Will the rise in VAT harm the UK’s economic performance? [17 Jan 2011]
The 25 Mark Questions in AQA AS Macro [30 Nov 2010]
Extend and Enrich with EconoMax [29 Oct 2010]
Beware the return of the Gazunderer [16 Oct 2010]
Housing market and negative equity [31 Aug 2010]
Reasons to fear a jobless recovery [11 Aug 2010]
Consumer sentiment weakens as double dip looms [2 Aug 2010]
China’s housing market - fantastic interactive resource [7 Jun 2010]
Housing and the British Economy [5 Jun 2010]
AS Macro Revision: Consumer Borrowing [30 May 2010]
Euro Land and Optimal Currency Areas - A Valentine’s Day Massacre [29 May 2010]
Warnings of hysteresis for the EU economy [29 May 2010]
Two examples of government failure [20 May 2010]
UK inflation hits 17-month high [18 May 2010]
RES Essay Competition: Preventing Housing Bubbles [12 Apr 2010]
Paris punishes the purse strings [12 Mar 2010]
50-year decline in housing affordability [20 Jan 2010]
IB Economics - Improving Evaluation Skills [30 Oct 2009]
Gloomy summary [13 Oct 2009]
The Wealth Effect [12 Sep 2009]
What happens when the hose pipe is turned off? [23 Aug 2009]
Tentative signs of a pulse in the housing market [30 Jul 2009]
Economics Snapshot - EU Migrants in the UK Labour Market [26 Jul 2009]
Housing the global economic crisis [23 Jul 2009]
Revision - External Shocks [24 May 2009]
Revision: Short Note on Government Intervention [22 May 2009]
Revision: Deflation in Residential and Commercial Property [14 May 2009]
Policy Failure - Rising Inequality [10 May 2009]
After the storm [3 May 2009]
Revision presentation - UK Housing Market 2009 [25 Mar 2009]
Bubble Behaviour [22 Mar 2009]
Homeowners step away from equity loans [1 Jan 2009]
Beta Currencies and PMD [19 Dec 2008]
Barclays Boss says housing downturn is only half done [16 Dec 2008]
Buyers desert the property market - with good reason [30 Oct 2008]
Negative equity - why is it a problem? [20 Oct 2008]
Housing - a buyers market [27 Sep 2008]
Housing market activity - some interesting data [26 Sep 2008]
Rock fall was symptom of wider malaise [13 Sep 2008]
Shaking foundations [26 Aug 2008]
Out of pocket? Students face much higher inflation. [21 Aug 2008]
Sharp fall in London property “asking prices” [18 Aug 2008]
Winners and losers from the housing crash [11 Aug 2008]
Telling it like it is [7 Aug 2008]
Moscow coffee had better be good! [24 Jul 2008]
Bricomortis [21 Jul 2008]
Poverty Trap worsens [18 Jul 2008]
15 Charts on the UK Economy to Kickstart Lessons in September 08 [14 Jul 2008]
The Great Depression? [11 Jul 2008]
Housing slump and negative multiplier effects [11 Jul 2008]
UK house prices down 2% in June [10 Jul 2008]
The Cracks are Widening [6 Jul 2008]
Migration and the UK housing market [3 Jun 2008]
Back to the 1990s [29 May 2008]
Revision: Evaluate to Accumulate [26 May 2008]
Revision: Labour’s Economic Record – An Evaluation [25 May 2008]
House prices down, rents up [20 May 2008]
Growing demand for social housing [19 May 2008]
Mervyn faces the Music [14 May 2008]
Elegy for Estate Agents [11 May 2008]
Property - then and now [9 May 2008]
Developments in the housing market [27 Apr 2008]
The social curse of the property boom [19 Apr 2008]
Sub prime risks for the UK [19 Apr 2008]
Revision: Stakeholders [19 Apr 2008]
The external costs of food waste [18 Apr 2008]
Policy conflict for the UK economy? [9 Apr 2008]
Revision: Improving Evaluation Skills [9 Apr 2008]
Economic Resilience? [9 Apr 2008]
Chart of the Day: Falling UK House Prices [8 Apr 2008]
A bubble waiting to be pricked [7 Apr 2008]
Chart of the Day: Construction Sector Confidence [6 Apr 2008]
Exiting Mortgages - Subnormal Profits [3 Apr 2008]
US Recession Watch: Hold onto your Hats! [27 Mar 2008]
UK Housing Market Update (March 2008) [21 Mar 2008]
New Labour’s Economic Dream turns to Nightmare? [16 Mar 2008]
Recession Watch: American Idle [7 Mar 2008]
UK Economy in Charts - March 2008 [7 Mar 2008]
Signs of a negative “wealth effect” for the USA? [6 Mar 2008]
Money’s too tight to mention [4 Mar 2008]
Living the high life [17 Feb 2008]

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