Yes, The Economist (UK weekly) called the bubble a while ago, as well as Ed Leamer (UCLA professor), and Robert Shiller, to mention only a few. Greenspan’s “regional froth” speech was a kind way of saying that “the bubble will bust harder in some areas than others” without scaring too many people.

I don’t know to what economists Rich refers to. Other than academic economists like Leamer or Shiller, there are the non-univesity types who focus on specific regions or industries, who may or may not be affected by conflicts of interest, depending on who their clients are.

Problem was, the mainstream media kept asking “experts” like Lereah for advice, and then reported their bullish views as if they were objective.