Gordon Brown was one of the longest serving Chancellors of the Exchequer, so he probably is someone to listen to. If memory serves me, he introduced QE very early on, presumably seeing what was going on in the US. The result (imo) is over-inflated asset prices, with London being the most outrageously expensive place to live. But then being the home of the derivatives market, there’s plenty who can afford eye-popping real estate prices.

There’s going to be another economic crisis because there always is. Everyone is looking around to see where it hasn’t happened yet, and the general focus is directed eastwards. There’s plenty of evidence of a serious real estate bubble in China but accounting standards don’t allow for transparency, so it’s not known how bad things are. Whatever, it may be a good thing if we have another crash (or two), and sooner rather than later. Mr Brown will be hoping so too. His increased consultation fee will help pay off that large mortgage he likely has.