We will seek to largely free the tests of any excessive expectations from Irish exceptionalism in loan-loss recoveries (over the years very few Irish residential mortgages have been foreclosed in downturns by comparison with the experience in the UK and US, for example: with the help of external consultants we are referencing experience in those countries – though not slavishly so – in the analysis that will lead us to choose new tougher capital levels for the banks sufficient to convince the markets.
•  First, the sharp and largely unanticipated fall in U.S. residential land prices after 2006 was the main cause of the financial crisis of 2007-09. 1  For example, section 1074 of the Act mandates that the secretary of the Treasury submit recommendations to Congress about possible changes to government-sponsored housing finance. Earlier this year, the secretary fulfilled that mandate.