But Professor Nouriel Roubini of New York University, one of the first economists to warn of the dangers of the American house price boom, believes the number of people positively choosing to walk away is growing rapidly.
Ive been watching this debacle quite closely since it started this time last year. Professor Roubini (
http://www.rgemonitor.com/blog/roubini ) seems to be the only economist quoted by the mainstream media in the USA who has got his head on straight, or isn't straight down lying to prop the system up.
Despite his doomerish views he's also well regarded enough to be called as an expert witness at Congressional committee hearings. He's been calling it on the button so far, but some of the solutions he's been offering have been a bit too 'socialist' for American taste.
With the recent writedowns led by Australian banks, and now Merrill , the media is at last starting to get its head round the scale of the problem. At least the Post's figure is now in the right ballpark.
http://www.financialpost.com/story.html?id=688494
As it took £100 billion to dispose of Northern Rock, one wonders what's still hiding under the table in the British banking system.
