The rebate, passed as part of February’s stimulus package, is available to anyone who has not owned a home in the last three years. Several studies have shown that the program has spurred several hundred thousand home sales in the short time it’s been available.

The real estate industry is pressuring Congress to extend the rebate offer through at least next summer to prop up an improving, though still unsteady housing market. Approximately 1.8 million people are expected to get the credit.

However, critics argue that the money is going to people who would have bought homes anyway. According to Ted Gayer, a Brookings Institution housing economist, 85% of the rebate recipients were already going to buy houses. The program is on track to cost the government $15 billion.

The original goal was for the Fed to buy $1.45 trillion in mortgage-backed securities by the end of this year. However, last week it announced that the goal would not be reached until next March, signaling its confidence in the budding recovery.

At the same time, the Federal Reserve decided to hold its key bank landing rate to a record low of between zero and 0.25 percent. That means that the commercial bank prime lending rate – used to set home equity loan rates, credit cards and other consumer loans – will stay around 3.25 percent.

Analysts say these action will keep mortgages rates low for now, but they will eventually creep higher as the Fed gradually withdraws from the market and the housing market stabilizes. Homeowners with adjustable rate mortgages need to move fairly quickly because rising rates combined with the expiration next June of a government-backed refinance program, will make it harder to refinance in the future.

A recently released Case-Shiller Price Index, compiled by Standard & Poor’s, shows that eight cities had price increases in May, compared to four in April and only one in March. Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and San Francisco are among the markets posting gains.

Significantly, this is the first time since early 2007 that the composite Case-Shiller index of 20 major cities was essentially flat, instead of down. This is on the heels of earlier reports showing that sales of existing homes rose in June for the third consecutive month. In addition, sales of new homes rose in June by the largest percentage in eight years.

As the economy emerges from recession, the real estate market should continue to improve, although skeptics warn that rising unemployment, another jump in foreclosures or a big increase in interest rates could halt the forward momentum.

What was surprising for banks was the trigger time and the scale of crisis, says Demyanyk. “Most likely, the crisis was not surprising, but its magnitude and time were,” the economist insists.

Since the start of the crisis, several studies have shown that banks were aware at one time that the situation would get rid of control. Two months ago, The Center of Public Integrity published a report which showed that “Mega-banks that have financed the sub-prime industry were not victims of the financial system collapse, as they say. “

These banks were deliberately facilitating financing home loans which now threaten the financial system, the report shows.

Many of the people who lost their jobs when Woolworths went down are still having trouble finding alternative work four months down the line. Debt advice agencies are filled with people who feel themselves to be under an enormous strain because they have no idea how they are going to pay back the money that they owe when they have no job. Add to that the prospect of paying for children’s college educations and the stress just mounts.

When you have money coming in every week or month then it is all too easy to fall into a pattern of spend, spend, spend and when you run out of cash then you just start in on the credit cards. While things are ticking along nicely and you are still working then the debt is not a problem, but if your fortunes are suddenly reversed then you could find it a lot harder to pay back what you owe. Debt agencies, doctors and even Government ministers are well aware of the stress that is caused when people are in debt and have no way of meeting their financial obligations.

Money worries can ruin your life and some people take their debt so seriously that they can’t see any way out; unable to cope with any more stress they may try to kill themselves and even their families. Although it is extremely stressful if you have unmanageable levels of stress; it is not the end of the world. There are ways through the morass of debt that people get themselves into when they overspend on credit cards, are shopaholics or have a gambling problem, it is still possible to pay off what you owe and come out the other side.

If you are suffering from stress because you have a number of creditors then the first thing that you should do is to seek professional advice. The Citizen’s Advice Bureau is a voluntary agency that counsels people who are in debt and tries to help them manage their money and pay off their creditors. If you have a good counselor then they may even speak to your creditors on your behalf to see if they can’t arrange a voluntary agreement between you and your creditors where you have a period where the interest rate is cut to give you a chance to catch up on what you owe.

If you have a debt problem that is causing you stress then the sooner you seek help the better, debt is not worth losing your life over.

The analysis was based on an approach that estimates the best interest rate on the rate of unemployment and inflation.

A central bank cannot reduce interest rates below zero, but the study suggests that the institution headed by Ben Bernanke should maintain a series of unconventional policies that provide incentives to broadly equivalent to an interest rate of minus 5 %.

Separately, the study’s authors estimated what type of unconventional operations would be needed and what scale should have it, to generate this level of stimulation. They suggested that the central bank should expand its purchases of assets even over the level, which was agreed in last meetings of Fed strategists.

“There was an improvement in confidence in the business environment, signs of stabilization on mortgage market, but it is still early and should not expect a return on the increase too soon “said Charles Collyns, deputy director of the research department of the IMF.

“We don’t expect to return on growth in the United States only during the next year “. According to statements made by Collyns, China is showing a considerable resistance and reacted strongly to combat the crisis.

IMF estimated that the global economy will curb by 1.3% in 2009 and that growth will resume in 2010, when will advance by 1.9%. Thus, the fond returned to the estimates from January, under which domestic product Gross world would be followed to decrease to 1.8% in 2009 and 1.1% next year.

But regard to developed economies, the IMF shows that the GDP of the United States will decrease by 2.8% in 2009 and will stagnate in 2010, while in the euro area economy will be compressed by 4.2% this year and 0.4% in 2010.

Look what you can do to get better with the crisis:

1. Do not dramatize. Don’t panic. Periods of crisis are normal and occur cyclically at 5-7 years. Is it true that some crises are more powerful, but it is part of ordinary life and they it will be meet often in a capitalist economy.

2. Wait. Even if it seems a good time to speculate, either on stock exchange or in property, unless you are not a professional wait until is clear that market returns, to make an acquisition. Maybe you will not achieve maximum potential gain, but you don’t risk to lose money when you need more of them.

3. Don’t borrow to the limit. The advice goes for any period, but even more important in crisis. Make sure that real loans not exceed 50% of your income.

4. Do for yourself some saves. Even if it is a tough time, try at least to put some money aside. You can make a bank deposit: interest rates increase a lot when banks need cash.

5. Try to reduce your costs to a minimum. Black days are a good opportunity for you to evaluate. Make an “austerity budget” and keep to it for month by month, who knows how long the crisis will last.

6. Watch exchange rate. In the periods of turbulence it varies a lot. Try to keep your savings in different places, in different currencies and various investments. Regardless of the evolution course, you will minimize losses.

7. Be more efficient. Crises are a good time for natural selection. The best, skilled, involved, will maintain and strengthen the positions in companies or in the working fields. If you no longer justified by the salary is time to put yourself a lot of questions and become more competitive.

There is no tragedy if you have to work more in that period. You can concentrate on work and move more easily to the crisis.

Crises pass. The most important is that when everything goes well, to be sober and to secure with white money for the black days. Invariable and they will return sooner or later.