Mr. Klaus Regling:

This opens a wide field. Of course, we talked mainly to people who played a role and where we thought they could help us understand how the bubble developed and what went wrong. In a sense many of them were decision makers, but we also talked to academics, trade union people and journalists, but we did not talk to people in the streets, that is also correct to say, because we did not have the time to do that. I would not call it speculation when people bought apartments and houses, because they did it given their belief that prices would only go up, it would be a good investment but would not be wrong, and they wanted to already buy apartments for their children early. As we heard as an example, people bought apartments for their children who were still in school because they thought once they got out of school, university and start a job they would not be able to afford a house. That is why we use the word "obsession" or almost obsession, which goes beyond what I see in some other countries. I would not call it speculation.

That I have a different view of austerity policies Deputy Higgins probably knows, so I will not get into that now.