The bubble wasn’t artificial. In 2019 there were hordes of people commuting downtown. Companies were moving in and there were lots of new developments building in the area. I know, I was there, working there everyday, as I had done for over 30 years.
Circumstances changed, however, effectively overnight. And the prolonged lockdown sealed it. This was governance malpractice on an enormous scale.
Since I’ve been abroad, for the most part, since early 2020, I can compare only with other countries. There has been nothing like this anywhere else.
By artificial I was referring to interest rates. Since interest rates are not set by the market, that makes them, as far as they affect the market, artificial.
Interest rates should reflect risk, but with the FED artificially, and to some degree arbitrarily, manipulating them they don’t reflect risk. And artificially low interest rates drive money into areas that it would not normally go.
I’m sure there’s more to it than that, as you said, but I’ve got to believe that was a factor.