I'm tired of all this whining. Economists who admonished Greenspan for flooding the economy with money, are now surprised that after 17 raises in short-term interest rates that consumers, particularly homeowners, are having a hard time.

A pullback of 4,000 jobs across the nation has put the stock market in a tailspin. Housing is to blame, but the real problem is salaries. Housing is only a symptom.

In the middle of the jobs panic this week, we were fed some disquieting news. While economists thought the economy would add over 100,000 jobs in July, we lost 4,000. That’s a net difference of 104,000 jobs! Understandably, many investors took this as a precursor to recession, and promptly pulled their money out of stocks.

Right on cue, a new figure designed to smooth our feathers came out. (You’ll notice there’s always a report with a silver lining following bad economic news. We don’t want anyone jumping out their office windows, do we?) The average worker’s pay in August 2007 rose to $17.50, a whopping 0.3 percent increase. Wages have risen 3.9 percent this year, one of the few years that earnings have outpaced inflation.

Workers should be rolling in dough!

But they’re not. If average workers make $3010 monthly, that’s only $36,120 gross a year. Home prices have doubled in the last five years, but salaries haven't beaten inflation.

Just to give you an idea of how much that doesn’t buy, the median home in the U.S. is $228,900. That means half of the homes sell for less, half sell for more.

To buy a median home, a homebuyer must earn $82,404 to qualify for a loan at 36 percent of income.

The buyer’s a little short, wouldn’t you say?

And this is the guy carrying two-thirds of the nation’s economy on his back. No wonder he’s maxed out his credit cards, too.

On the other hand, management is well paid.

According to the AFLCIO, the CEO of “a Standard & Poor's 500 company made on average $14.78 million in total compensation in 2006, according to a preliminary analysis by The Corporate Library.”

That’s 409 times the average worker’s salary.

Don’t give me that guff that they’re worth it. They use the same CEO playbook -- fire workers, cut service, cut quality, and ship any remaining jobs overseas.

The really creative ones take government contracts while refusing to pay taxes, and then set up world offices in Dubai.

And when things go wrong, they claim they didn’t know because they were too far up the food chain. It was those dastardly underlings who cooked the books.

But when stock prices rise, it’s because they’re geniuses.

What makes their salaries even more obscene is that many of these CEOs were paid for poor performances, taking millions out the door along with their pink slips. Others were found to have collected substantial sums for backdating their stock options to more affordable prices before dumping their shares at market rate on the unsuspecting public.

That windfall came right out of investors’ pockets.

What’s astounding is that the nation’s investors put up with it. What’s even more astounding, is that we put up with it as consumers.

What’s wrong with housing is that people simply aren’t making enough money to power two-thirds of the nation’s economy and buy houses, too.

And all it took was a little rise in interest rates for the whole charade to be exposed.

Now for the cure.

Interest rates will have to drop to move the most at-risk homeowners through the system. They can refinance or sell. Inventories will be absorbed, and lenders will stay afloat only to tighten up again. By then, everyone will get the message that only people who can afford to buy homes will be approved. Credit will still be tightened significantly, but gradually so those stupid Wall Street investors won't get so spooked that their overpaid CEOs are forced to fire more people, cook more books, and move more jobs overseas.

Published: September 10, 2007

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Blanche Evans is the award-winning senior editor of Realty Times, the Internet's leading independent real estate news service. She is featured daily on the Realty Times Video Network in the "Realty Viewpoint" segment. Blanche has been named one of the "25 Most Influential People In Real Estate" by REALTOR Magazine, and has been twice recognized as a "notable." In 2005, she was named "Top Reporter Covering the NAR" by Delahaye-Bacon's. Blanche is a renowned author of five real estate books. Her newest, Bubbles, Booms and Busts: Make Money In Any Real Estate Market, McGraw-Hill, was rave-reviewed by The New York Times. She was also selected from hundreds of real estate experts to contribute to Donald Trump's book, Trump: The Best Real Estate Advice I Ever Received: 100 Top Experts Share Their Strategies, Rutledge Hill Press, and is featured on page 68. Order Now Review - Honors In 2006, Blanche was selected among scores of candidates to author two consumer real estate guidebooks for the National Association of Realtors: The NAR Guide to Home Buying, and The NAR Guide to Home Selling, Wiley & Sons. She is currently planning two new books for the NAR and its members.       Known for her keen insight into real estate industry issues and for her ability to make complex subjects easy to understand, Blanche is a sought-after keynote and continuing education speaker. Real estate organizations from MLSs, to brokerages, to franchisors, to associations hire her to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of real estate industry news and advice on how to improve revenues. Her passionate delivery, peppered with stinging wit, is a huge hit with audiences and fans. Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors, Blanche Evans, Richard Courtney, president 2007, GRAR "The GNAR membership meeting last week featured Blanche Evans as the keynote speaker. Her comments and insights resonated extremely well with those in attendance and we have had many requests for copies of her PowerPoint Presentation. She was a terrific part of the membership meeting and convention program!" - Don Klein, CEO Greater Nashville Association of Realtors Coverage from WSMV, Nashville - 8-14-2007 That Interview Guy - Get Inside The Head Of Today's Generation 2007 AE Institute Session - To purchase 2006 AE Institute Session - Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 HouseValues Mastermind call - Parts 1 2 Blanche's fireside chat with Jeremy Conaway, HAR - Click here. To contact Blanche, email her at . For more articles by Blanche, click here.