David Lereah's book may need some more revisions for the 2007 & 2008 editions. The National Association of Realtor's "Chief Economist" AKA "Paid Shill" was recently interviewed by Robert Siegel of National Public Radio and was hit with some hard questions regarding the title of his book. Of course, he took no resposibility for the title of his own book and blamed his publisher.
ROBERT SIEGEL, host: But to put this in some context, you have been a positive voice for real estate. So much so that a couple of years ago, you published a book in 2005 whose original title was "Are You Missing The Real Estate Boom" .... the subtitle of that book was "Why Home Values and Other Real Estate Investments Will Climb Through the End of the Decade." What went wrong? Where was the point where you stopped seeing real estate values going up through 2010 and something happening to it instead?
Lereah: Great Question! First the boom was Double Day Random House Word that ..
Seigal: that your publisher, you are telling me
Lereah: .. put on the title. It wasn't my title unfortunately. So it was a poor choice of titles.
Siegal: You are not the first person with that excuse in this studio.
Lereah: But if you actually read the book. I say the boom is not good, it cannot sustain itself. I actually redefine boom to be a healthy expansion.
Siegal: Well wait a second. But in the cover of the book you said it would be the "golden age' of real estate.
I'm afraid that "The Age of Accountability" ended many years ago.
