Final Word from Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Czech coalition politicians, economists, analysts, central bankers and presidents are bubbling over with joy about how grand the economy is doing. Every day we read of a new record for such things as growth, employment, sales or harvests. But then a party pooper puts a damper on things by declaring that the music may be ending soon. CEO Zdeněk Havelka of CPI Group told MFD that we are close to reaching the kind of atmosphere that was in existence before the last crisis. The boom doesn't last forever, he said. Another developer, Dušan Kunovský of Central Group, said that a mere 1-point rise in mortgage rates could cause repayment problems. Havelka and Kunovský have touched on an issue that the country's political and business leaders are avoiding like the plague: Low interest rates have tricked many people into buying homes that they couldn't actually afford. When the music ends, not everyone will be left standing. [Czech Republic Radovan Vítek property real estate]