BEIJING -(MarketWatch)- A recent decline in Chinese real-estate prices is starting to shake confidence in the country’s economic vitality and open a debate about whether the country’s economy is over-leveraged. That’s what made the real-estate bubble’s aftermath so painful for the U.S. and Japan.

Only if, or when, Greece defaults will we know who ultimately has sold insurance against that default.

Municipal debt is not the same as subprime debt. That’s the key here. The doom-and-gloomers want you to believe they are equivalent. They want to scare you. As scared as you were in 2008. But don’t get scared.