An economy that subsidizes overpaid CEOs at the expense of the middle class is bound to falter. Not only is Unemployment growing, but so is the length of time it takes to find a job. When one in five unemployed are jobless for at least half a year, that's the human version of too many days on the market, and it's hitting the middle class hard.

And that should be a lesson to all of us.

Just like housing, rising unemployment is a symptom, not the disease.

The disease is greed at the upper management levels of our society.

We can't offshore our manufacturing and expect to sustain a healthy economy. We can't keep a nation of consultants employed. We can't overpay CEOs and expect underperforming stocks to be worth holding. We can't continue to subsidize the rich and poor and expect the middle class to carry the burden. We can't let the cub reporters of the financial press or Wall Street, with their short-sighted, fear-mongering, run our economy.

But there are some folks out there who don't see it my way.

Here's what Joel wrote to Realty Times, "The country needs a recession to correct the misallocation that Greenspan and company spawned with their insanely low interest rates for far too long. ... When the Dems ride in in November, we can all kiss it good-bye when they jack tax rates up to try to pay for all this."

A reader named RLB says, "The newspaper did not scare us into a recession; the high price of eating, drinking, and driving did."

And then some guy named Dave says, "I am reveling in this housing recession, and hope it gets much worse before it improves. The housing industry is getting what it deserves, a huge correction and a revamping of lending practices."

Do you see a trend here? No, not that readers don't give their full names. It's that these folks are angry. Their common complaint is that prices need to come down because they went up too much!

What's scary is that some of these guys want to see others get hurt. They're mad about missing the bubble!

Well, sorry Dave, RLB, and Joel. Be careful what you wish for. Prices may come down because you're forcing them to, but they'll never get low enough again to make you happy. For prices to reverse course, we'll have to be in a full-blown recession or depression, where nobody can afford to buy or sell -- and that includes you.

Published: January 23, 2008

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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.