Seasonally adjusted new home sales were down 3.9% in February, while existing home sales were up 3.9%. Should we call it a wash?
Carnival time
This week’s Carnival of the Capitalists is hosted by Political Calculations (of calculate your own recession probability fame). In addition to PC’s usual dazzling display of cool scripts, Ironman had the excellent taste to designate Econbrowser’s Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble as “The Best Post of the Week, Anywhere”. Which maybe gives y’all a chance to start a new thread for discussion of just what’s been driving the housing market.
Some Implications of “Staying the Course”
The numbers are flying around — so much so that one cannot be sure of where force levels will be in a few months. However, based upon press reports and data provided by the Brookings Institution’s Iraq Index, we can make some educated guesses.
Bubble, bubble, toil, and trouble
It didn’t look to me like a bubble on the way up, and it doesn’t look to me like a bubble on the way down.
Three Four Pictures from the Investment Sector
Several observers have taken solace from the jump in housing starts; however others have noted the implications of the decline in housing permit applications are not so rosy.
San Diego city pension fund
I earlier described some disturbing details about the assets held by the San Diego County Employees Retirement Association. Our separate pension fund for city employees, the San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System, is another tale of local woe that I worry may have global implications.
Attaining Internal and External Equilibrium in China
China raises rates again. What will higher rates do?
Life on Saturn’s moon?
The mainstream media caught the story of apparent seas made of methane or ethane on Saturn’s largest moon Titan. But there was an even more interesting account about tiny Enceladus.
Disappointing numbers on inflation and retail sales
Macroblog and Calculated Risk had some discouraging graphs yesterday.
Caribbean ethanol imports
What happens when you mandate use of ethanol and heavily tax its importation?