Home Foreclosures up 33.2 % in Past Year:

One out of every 84 homes has been foreclosed, according to Gery Shih reporting in today's New York Times, but that hasn't stopped new home builders. Housing starts, according to Shih, "rose last month by 3.6 percent." Housing, of course, was a major force behind both the previous economic boom and its bust. With population in the U.S. relatively stagnant, there is no housing shortage, just a game of musical chairs and, in this case, no odd man out. The boom was based on the notion that real estate values would continue to spiral up and that everyone's income would follow suit. Ooops!