The end of the US & global capitalism as we know it? The illusion of wealth is perpetrated by the increase in unrestrained credit/money. The money is now vaporising because it's based on .....nothing.....it never really existed in the first place, at least that amount over and above what could be created into existance by honest productivity? Simple?
The end (of the downturn) will be when people are employed to build homes according to the ability to pay for them ie to live within their means. The good thing about Australia is that we, supposedly, don't have a suplus of homes to get rid of, unlike the rest of world, so our recovery will be construction lead?