pop!

On today's MSN, we find out from Bill Fleckenstein that the housing bubble has popped.

Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately, a lot of people around the country are going to be badly hurt as this bubble unwinds. And, after they have taken their losses, the financial institutions that were the engine behind this folly will take their own hits. 'Easy Al' Greenspan at the Fed tried to bail out one bubble with another bubble. While it bought some time, it will end in far-worse pain.

I would love to know what "Easy Al" is thinking these days. We know he abandoned his principled stand against credit expansion ages ago. He probably considers himself pretty clever to have bailed out of the Fed before the coming collapse. Perhaps his attitude is "don't look back" - after all, there's millions to be made in the lecture circuit now! But why anybody would pay him even a single penny for his thoughts is beyond me.