This past Saturday’s NY Times Business Day section had a very interesting article by Joe Nocera titled “Shouldn’t We Rescue Housing?”.  In it Mr. Nocera effectively argues that the root cause of the current financial meltdown is not being addressed. That problem is the continuing decline of housing prices. He believes, and rightfully so, that until housing prices stabilize and the on-going foreclosures halt we will continue to experience financial turmoil. It’s perplexing that the Federal Government has pledged hundreds of billions of dollars to stabilize Wall St. but has thus far done little to stabilize the housing market and the lives of those Americans who are directly and adversely affected by the mortgage-lending debacle - a debacle that has crippled not only the US but the entire world as well. Is the magnitude of the problem not apparent enough in Washington, D.C.? Or, could it be that there is not as much political pressure from homeowners as there has been from Wall St. Although the solutions proposed in Mr. Nocera’s article might not be perfect they certainly address the problem and will, hopefully, be the first real step in recognizing, addressing and effectively dealing with the real cause of the current crisis.