REI Wealth Monthly Issue 15 | Page 60

THE GREAT DEPRESSION VS. THE CREDIT CRISIS: CHAOS & OPPORTUNITIES RICK TOBIN fter almost seven (7)years of the ongoing Credit Crisis, will the financial markets ease up a bit more in 2014 or will they tighten up even further? Interest rates continue to hover at, or near all-time record lows due to “Quantitative Easing” strategies (or “create money out of thin air in order to artificially boost stock, bond, and mortgage values”). Yet, the U.S. economy and financial markets seem to be as nonsensical as ever before. For anyone who worked in, or invested in the real estate fields prior to the start of the Credit Crisis (www.thecreditcrisis.net), how many of us still recognize the real estate and mortgage industries as we move forward into 2014? While it is very true