My point of emphasis is that the same strategies of wealth creation and preservation are rapidly evolving and real estate as part of an investment or retirement portfolio might be more intelligent and essential than ever.

Is there more emphasis on appreciation over cash-flow, are they putting a lot of money down, are there simply very few buy and hold investors etc.?

Global welfare just compounds the problem.

Perhaps more emphasis needs to be placed on suitability for the job through better psychological screening to avoid some of the issues we have had with law enforcement.

Global debt accumulation normally takes place during war time where to the victor goes the spoils and the loser gets defeat and default.

-----------------------------------------------------------Ni Hao.China offers more investment opportunities but has too many environmental issues.The housing crash here certainly brought about huge opportunities for investors not just from US but also from all over the world.http://trends.truliablog.com/vis/global-pursuits/The best time to get in was 2010 and 1011.

Originally posted by Tom Cullen: Recently quack man-made global warming pseudo-scientists were exposed purging and fudging data on TMWP in an attempt to explain it away.

Picking a stock actually requires you to analyze an enormous amount of data and vastly increases your knowledge of the global economy.

Personally I'm less worried about a revolution and food riots here, than the global power struggle that is ensuing all around us both economically as well as the military positioning and buildups.

I have been software engineer working for global software company in Redmond, but few years ago, I have started business in auto industry and was able to quit my day job.