In the early stages of a debt cycle, debt growth was essentially in line with income growth, with most of the debt entering the real economy, generating rapid income growth. The U.S. economy looks pretty good at this stage. Economic growth remains at 3 to 4 per cent, unemployment is below the long-term average, between 4 and 5 per cent, and inflation is between 2 and 3.5 per cent. The Fed's goal is growth and inflation, not debt growth. The federal interest rate rose from 1% in 2004 to 5% in 2006. Between 2004 and 2006, house prices rose by 30 per cent and by 80 per cent compared with 2000, the biggest increase in post-World War II prices in a decade. In the formation of the real estate bubble, began a round of self-circulation. Suppose a family pays a down payment of $50,000 for a $250,000 house, and then the price rises from $250,000 to $350,000, doubling the family's investment. This also leads to a higher proportion of borrowing, more people into the real estate market.
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