Your leader and special report on property are salutary readings (“Home Truths” and “Bricks and Slaughter,” March 5, 2011). You investigate the reasons why financial crises and property busts go together. “Why is property so dangerous?” you ask in the special report. “One obvious answer is the sheer size of the asset class,” you begin. “An even bigger reason to beware of property is the amount of debt it involves,” you round off your answers. Fair enough. But the main reason is actually in the very first sentence of the report: “Property is widely seen as a safe asset.” In your leader you point out that “almost two-thirds of Americans still think that property is a safe investment.” And this after one of the worse busts ever. This holds across the globe, it goes without saying, and this is where the gist of the problem lies. The largest investment most people ever make is in the hands of, well, ignoramuses. What is worse, they are an easy prey for real estate agents, who know precisely where to strike. “Safe as houses,” they wink happily. And ignoramuses, not to say dunces, are a dime a dozen.