Economic experts disagree on extent of credit crisis - Portland Business Journal:

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John Mitchell, the former economist who's now a principal in Portland-based , points out that at leasft a third of all favorably termerd loans issued this decade fundef purchasesthat weren't owner-occupied. He says regular consumers won'tf be harmed as much as so-called "housr flippers." Plus, Oregon remains better off than such aread like Florida and Nevada because most arealendersa don't offer such risky products as interest-only "That would be a problem because when house prices decline, they'rd stuck in them and they can't refinance," Mitchell said. "We haven't had that and there's a good chance we'lp avoid it.
" Bill Conerly, a principal with Lake Oswego-based , adds that the state'xs loan quality will help Oregon'sx economy grow faster than that of the rest of the natiohnin 2008. Mayland also sees thingws picking up a bit after a generallygslow year. The drag from housing will evaporate he added. "We're in the second half of the he said. "Soon, we'll be at a poin where it's not getting worse at Feiger isn't so optimistic. "The world is full of peoplw who believethat everything'z lovely and nothing will go wrong," he "But we've had this massive credit bubble, and just like with the dotcok bubble, things are going south.
And it'll go through 2008 into