Let the market fall?

Over the weekend an article in the New York Times suggested that some economists and housing analysts are coming to the conclusion that the only way out of our current housing slump is to let the market fall to whatever level occurs naturally. The reasoning is that all of the steps taken by the federal government thus far - the home buyer tax credit, incredibly low interest rates, foreclosure prevention programs - have been unsuccessful in halting the skid of the market. There's now a sense that even though a further drop in prices would cause even more pain, such a drop is the only way to break through the stagnation that now grips the market.

In the past I've written about this approach with regard to foreclosed properties - that lenders should move quickly to execute the foreclosure and get the properties back on the market and in the hands of new owners as soon as possible, but the type of blanket approach suggested in this article seems extreme even to me.