Peter S. Goodman of the Times has talked to some economists and hedge fund managers and he is now worried that programs to prevent foreclosures are preventing the markets from reaching bottom and working their recovery magic:

Some experts argue the program has impeded economic recovery by delaying a wrenching yet cleansing process through which borrowers give up unaffordable homes and banks fully reckon with their disastrous bets on real estate, enabling money to flow more freely through the financial system.

Wonks Anonymous wonders how much more creative destruction of asset values the economy can stand and is amazed at the faith of - and in - these market gurus who have gotten so many bets right already.

He wonders if we are not headed into a world of new, more efficient housing options, like those described by Hiroko Tabuchi, also in the Times.

We can go from our cubicles at work to our cubicle hotels, praising God that we don't live in Cuba or some other backward economy.