Tim Iacono submits:

Having visited Las Vegas last fall as financial markets were crashing, it was odd to see how remarkably cheery the City Center sales staff were in peddling condos for what will probably rival the construction boom in Dubai as the great White Elephant of a now bygone era.
IMAGE In fact, when asked about plunging real estate prices and global financial markets that were following suit back in late-September, the sales staff almost appeared to be living in some parallel universe where asset prices only go in one direction – UP.

The response to this query was either a "deer-in-the-headlights" look or a brief moment of agitation before a well-honed sales instinct could wrest control back from what was clearly a more emotional (and more genuine) reaction.

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