"As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance," – Chuck Prince, Citigroup

Chuck's utterance now sounds more like a quaint remembrance than a stark reminder. Ben Bernanke's proclamation also sounds more like an "oopsie" than a dangerous misjudgment by a top official.

"We believe the effect of the troubles in the subprime sector on the broader housing market will be limited and we do not expect significant spillovers …" 

One of the most pernicious aspects of the financial crisis for many investors was that it seemed to come out of nowhere. US housing prices had never declined in a big way and subprime was too small to show up on the radar. Nonetheless, the stage was set by rapid growth in credit and high levels of debt. Today, eerily similar underlying conditions exist in the Chinese residential real estate market. Indeed, a lot of investors might be surprised to hear it called the most important asset class in the world.