Check out the latest from the respected Economists of the National Association of Home Builders. Click the link at the end of the paragraph for a detailed report.
Economic Momentum Still Is Downward in the U.S.
Real gross domestic product (GDP) contracted at a 6.2% annual rate in the final quarter of last year, the sharpest contraction since the depths of the 1982 recession. Available evidence on economic activity for the early part of 2009 shows that another major decline in GDP is in the cards for the first quarter of the year. We’re currently estimating -5.5%. (More)
Housing Production Still Is Weakening
The housing sector, which began to weaken more than two years prior to the onset of national recession at the end of 2007, still is a major negative for the U.S. economy. The housing production component of GDP (residential fixed investment) suffered a severe setback in the final quarter of 2008 and will post an even weaker performance in the first quarter of this year.(More)
The Economic Recession Now Is Truly Global
The recession increasingly is global in scope and nature, and a rare decline in world real GDP now is a virtual certainty for 2009.(More)
Inflation Concerns Are Giving Way to Deflation Fears
The global economic recession and growing slack in labor markets have totally defused earlier inflation concerns in financial markets and at our central bank, and the specter of potentially destructive deflation has crept onto the radar screen.(More)
The Financial System Still Is Functioning Poorly
The national and global financial market crisis has rightfully earned the title of “Great Recession” for the current economic situation.(More)
The Federal Reserve Pulls Out the Stops
The flagging economy, threat of deflation and persistent problems in the financial sector have spurred the Fed to pull out the policy stops.(More)
Treasury Supplies More Details on Public-Private Toxic Asset Plan
On March 23, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner supplied more details on a critical component of the Obama Administration’s plan for stabilizing the financial system, i.e., the public-private partnership designed to get toxic or “legacy” assets off the books of banks and other financial institutions.(More)
AIG Bonus Flap Threatens to Disrupt Public-Private Policy Initiatives
The recent public and political outcries over large “retention bonuses” paid to many executives of AIG, following massive injections of funds into this company by the federal government, threaten to divert the attention of policymakers from critical market needs at exactly the wrong time and to undermine the efforts to contain the financial crisis.(More)
Everything Considered, the Recovery Tunnel Is Coming Into View
There have been some glimmers of light in the darkening economic picture, including retail sales for January and February and sales of both new and existing homes in February. It’s clear that ongoing market adjustments in key sectors are essential to eventual economic recovery and expansion.(More)