A few readers wanted to discuss the real estate profession. "Topic: Nobility of the Realtor Profession."

Another replied, "Amen brother. Disintermediation. The internet drives disintermediation. Just ask your neighborhood travel agent or read the Economist. Disintermediation will be a b**ch for your friendly realtor lacking basic skills."

"There was an interview on NPR this morning, and the topic was how the internet will increase the pressure on real estate commissions and further disintermediate the industry. Interestingly, one of the observations was that areas with higher home prices have a higher concentration of real estate agents, which dilutes the amount of money an agent earns since there is more competition for listings and buyers."

"You are correct. the low barrier to entry causes a flood of newbie real estate agents toward the end of the boom diluting earnings from the people who have chosen RE agent as a true career path. For all of the power of NAR they haven’t erected the barriers to entry to their profession."

And the New York Times has a report on just this subject. "As it turns out, most agents don't make very much money during a boom, because of one simple fact: the boom attracts way too many of them. Over the past 10 years, membership in the N.A.R. has risen by more than 75 percent. And why not? Compared with most professions, becoming a real-estate agent is quick, cheap and relatively painless. In economics, this phenomenon is known as free entry."

"The second reason to feel bad for real-estate agents is even more dire: their very profession is about to join the endangered-species list. Think back for a moment to 1999. Travel agents still roamed the earth in vast numbers. So did stockbrokers. But their business models were being blown apart, largely by the Internet."