In the Telegraph, the thorny and endlessly entertaining issue of house prices. And we're right to care, without feeling guilty. I know, I know... as a society, lower house prices would be to our benefit, and it's not fair that there's a generation priced off the property ladder and forced to dance to the tune of the nation's landlords. But remember the honest, decent families, vulnerable at the moment to job losses, who have bought a property in the last few years, and whose lives could be ruined (no exaggeration, check this out) by falling house prices coinciding with mortgage arrears. There's little pleasure to be gained from their suffering. So - as I said - concern about falling house prices isn't necessarily something to be ashamed of. And yet... how do you square a sentence like this:

Henry Holland-Hibbert, of Strutt & Parker, said he had just had "the best June ever".

With one like this, from the Guardian?:

Homeless migrants from eastern Europe in London who are unable to get benefits have become so impoverished that they are eating rats and drinking lethal cocktails of alcoholic handwash, a homeless charity has warned.

It's a shocking piece. The cliché would be to say that it puts the former feature in perspective, but that's all it would be... a cliché. It doesn't... it lives alongside in a bleak commentary on our complex, sophisticated, failing front line between economics and society.

Technorati Tags: property, real estate