I don’t think prices will remain flat. But I’m very doubtful that Thornberg actually said or meant that. You may think that he said that, but I have seen you putting words in people’s mouths so many times, that somehow I have trouble believing you. I have read many of his reports, and yes, there are some parts where he strikes a more optimistic tone, but he’s still a bear. As an analyst, he pretty much has to weigh all the possibilities (“on one hand…on the other hand”), and present scenarios. Only a fool would predict something with absolute certainty. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of them among either bulls or bears. Thornberg isn’t one of them.

BTW, Thornberg started to be a RE bear as far back as 2002-2003, only to be ridiculed by the inflating bubble afterwards. Somehow I don’t think it’s fair to pick on someone who was ahead of his time, just because you happened to learn about the bubble at the right time.

Finally, even if he DID say that prices were going to flatten out, I’m pretty confident that this outcome would be closer to the mark than your 50% haircut prediction. But it’s pointless arguing now about this. Only time will tell.