Does this sound familiar?

As Patrick wends his way through Europe, I thought it would be fun to take a look over the next couple of days at a few of the markets he is either visiting or flying over...What is striking is how the bubble economy took hold in so many parts of the world, and with such similar (…even predictable? Nah!) results. This article in the Irish Times provides a succinct overview of how it all happened, and a surprisingly (to me at least) tough stance, Government must let Property Bubble burst:

Ireland's economy has grown in two broad stages in the last 20 years. The first one was a coupling of the country to the very powerful forces of globalisation (eg US multinationals), while the second saw the flourishing of the domestic economy with the tailwind of low interest rates.

Where the first phase saw Ireland grow in confidence, the second, arguably, saw it become complacent, uncompetitive and dazzled by its own unexpected success. This is standard behaviour in economies in the full throes of an economic bubble.

And:

The biggest mistake policymakers and politicians could make at this stage is to try to prop up the asset bubble in the property market.

However, the apparent bewilderment of some politicians in the face of the downturn, and the desire of many of our oligarchs (as expressed in these pages) to see their industries supported by the State, suggests that the short-term crisis and not the long-term future dominates attention spans.