Similarly, in boom conditions commodity consumers will be so desperate to get their hands on raw materials that they will drive prices up to absurd levels, at least for a short time.

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Yet the money production of the bust is dictating conditions in the boom.

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He said during the real-estate boom, sales were driven up by "artful credit conditions, but now with tight credit, "prices are more real.

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Both disasters prompted policy makers to ease monetary and fiscal conditions that fueled an expansion in the aggregate demand, especially a construction boom that boosted equity prices, especially shares of companies involved directly or indirectly in reconstruction.

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