One of the things I think about: housing prices. They have leveled off (and even increased slightly in my area) and there is a growing inventory. And who didn't see Adjustable Rate Mortgage train barreling down the tracks? But I also know something else: I bought a house in 2000 that doubled -- doubled -- in value in about 3 years while the money I could charge for my services -- well, didn't.

Now, I'm hardly complaining about that increase, because I'm a capitalist. I'm just thinking. And the reality is when I bought subsequent homes, I bought them with a salary that didn't grow as sharply as home values.

So some English-major math shows that while housing prices doubled -- and kept climbing -- many salaries didn't keep pace. I know many of my friends' or colleagues' didn't. And I've heard the corporate mantra that raises need to be guarded while company profits blast off (and corporate officers regale their staffs with summering in their second homes) enough times that I want to barf. So is it any wonder things are "slowing"?

Seriously, my mom taught me a long time ago that you can't borrow more than you can pay back. I also know that life is more complicated than that, except that sometimes it isn't. And I also know the Nobel committee isn't going to be calling me about my thoughts on game theory.

So I leave it to you: What's your take? Is it pure greed that has driven prices too high? What corrected them? Or is the correction correct? Or is this Capitalism working just like it's supposed to?