The law of unintended consequences hit policymakers squarely in the face following recent rumours that government was considering introducing a “stamp duty holiday” for home buyers, in a bid to get the frozen market moving. A leak that was clearly intended to inject some desperately needed confidence into the housing market has had the opposite effect, as consumers halted on buying decisions and even on transactions in progress, according to the National Association of Estate Agents, with the expectation that they could save a substantial sum if they hold off until autumn, when chancellor Alistair Darling was expected to announce such a move in the pre- Budget report.<br><br>The beleaguered estate agency sector urged the government to kill off the uncertainty and act now, to no avail. So in trying to fix the market, government has damaged it further. The situation highlights the complexity of the problems now faced in the housing market and the growing acknowledgement that these problems ultimately stretch beyond the reach of the government and the Bank of England. The mortgage famine is tied to a global credit crisis of mammoth proportions – one which is threatening the whole credit-driven economic system under which we have spent …