Irish  national house prices are now back to Summer 2004 levels. Average national house prices fell by 1.3% in May according to the latest edition of the permanent tsb / ESRI House Price Index. This compares to reductions in April (-1.9%), March (-1.0%) and February 2009 (-0.8%). Nationally prices were down 6.2% in first five months but prices for first-time buyers continue falling fastest at 9.2% - - signalling distress sales by builders.

David Lichtenstein is facing challenges to the plan that took his Extended Stay Hotels chain into bankruptcy protection, which could trigger $100 million of personal liability.

Irish Economy: In the  year to March 2009, Ireland lost almost 160,000 jobs according to the latest Quarterly National Household Survey from the CSO. The rise is the equivalent of two full Croke Parks - - Croke Park, Dublin, the home of Ireland’s national games, is Ireland’s biggest sports stadium.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and commodities.

It’s an ill wind that doesn’t blow somebody good and both lawyers and accountants are able to counter the loss of fees generated during the boom by providing recovery and undertaking services. The Financial Times reports today that UK law firm Slaughter and May have made a bonanza of more than £22m in the past year from advising on bank bailouts while the Irish Times reported on Wednesday that Irish law firm Arthur Cox has been paid a total of €3.8m for work on the State bank guarantee and recapitalisation schemes to prop up the banks.

Global high-net-worth wealth fell 19.5% to $32.8 trillion in 2008 and the world’s High Net Worth Investor (HNWI) population now stands at 8.6 million, according to the latest World Wealth Report produced by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini.  The report says the declines were unprecedented, and wiped out two robust years of growth in 2006 and 2007. Irish HNWIs dropped by 20% in 2008 to 16,300 and Merrill Lynch termed the Irish State bank guarantee and recapitalisations as “drivers of wealth.”

Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says its research shows that US households have been more vulnerable to equity price shocks and UK and Eurozone households to house price shocks.

This week, the Obama Administration filed a WTO complaint against Chinese export practices that disadvantage US manufacturers. This is welcome news, because more balanced trade with China is essential for achieving a sustainable economic recovery.

Irish Economy: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) in its annual report on Ireland that was issued in Washington on Tuesday, said through the end of 2010, Irish banks could face losses of about €35 billion, or about 20 percent of GDP. The economy will shrink by 13.5 percent from 2008 to 2010 - - the largest among advanced economies - - and unemployment will rise to 15.5 percent next year. The Fund says thereafter, as “the present dislocations gradually correct themselves, only a modestly-paced recovery is foreseen. The incipient decline in wages will need to be sustained to help redress Ireland’s cost disadvantage.”