Quienes saben de esto, anuncian “severas correcciones económicas”, que pagarán los más frágiles, hipotecados, con peores salarios. “Corrección”: amable versión anglosajona del castigo.

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Financial Times, 10 noviembre 2007. House price correction threatens European growth, Brussels warns

By Ralph Atkins in Frankfurt and Laura Dixon in Brussels

An unexpectedly sharp correction in house prices resulting from the global credit squeeze poses a significant risk to growth in Europe, according to the European Commission.

The European Union’s executive arm forecast a gradual slowdown in growth from 2007 to 2008 but said continuing financial market turmoil meant the risks were «clearly tilted to the downside».

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So far, those European countries that saw the fastest growth in house prices, such as the UK, Spain, Ireland and France, have generally seen an orderly slowdown this year. But the Commission’s latest EU economic forecast hinted at policymakers’ fears of a sharper adjustment. A special section on past house price cycles warned that while other regions were sometimes more volatile, «the historical experience suggests that major housing downturns have also had a substantial macroeconomic impact».

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Joaquín Almunia, the EU’s monetary affairs commissioner, said: «We consider that investment will continue to contribute positively to growth, but less than in this year or 2006. And in particular, residential construction investment will have a significant correction, and will contribute much less than in the previous periods to our growth.»

Housing and construction had contributed enormously to Spanish growth, so the international problems would have a particular effect there, he added.