Blogging the End of the World™
From Calculated Risk: The Census Bureau reports, New Home Sales in December were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 331 thousand. This is the lowest sales rate the Census Bureau has ever recorded (starting in 1963). …This graph shows New Home Sales vs. recessions for the last 45 years. New Home Sales have fallen […]
ABSTRACT: AMERICAN CHRONICLES about doomers and the current economic crisis. A year and a half ago, Dmitry Orlov, a forty-six-year-old software engineer from Leningrad, sold his apartment and bought a boat, on which he and his wife now live, in Boston. Orlov moved to the U.S. when he was twelve, and returned to the Soviet […]
From Calculated Risk: From the American Trucking Association: ATA Truck Tonnage Index Plummeted 11.1 Percent in December (hat tip Dave of SV) Click on graph for larger image in new window. The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index plunged 11.1 percent in December 2008, marking the largest month-to-month reduction since April […]
World economic growth is set to fall to just 0.5% this year, its lowest rate since World War II, warns the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In October, the IMF had predicted world output would increase by 2.2% in 2009. It now projects the UK, which recently entered recession, will see its economy shrink by 2.8% […]
As many as 51 million jobs worldwide could be lost this year because of the global economic crisis, says the International Labour Organization (ILO). The UN agency says that would push up the world’s unemployment rate to 7.1% by the end of 2009, compared with 6.0% in 2008 and 5.7% in 2007. … "If the […]
Fire is the most ubiquitous form of landscape disturbance, and has important effects on climate through the global carbon cycle and changing atmospheric chemistry. There has been a significant increase in large-scale wildfires in all regions of the world during the past decade. This has triggered an interest in knowing how fire has changed in […]
By DEBORA REY, ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Argentina’s president declared an agricultural emergency Monday in the nation’s breadbasket provinces, responding to a key demand by powerful farm organizations amid the worst drought in decades. Cristina Fernandez told political and business leaders in a televised press conference that the decree will exempt thousands […]
by Richard Harris All Things Considered, January 26, 2009 · Climate change is essentially irreversible, according to a sobering new scientific study. As carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, the world will experience more and more long-term environmental disruption. The damage will persist even when, and if, emissions are brought under control, says study author […]
From Calculated Risk: S&P/Case-Shiller released their monthly Home Price Indices for November this morning. This includes prices for 20 individual cities, and two composite indices (10 cities and 20 cities). This graph shows the year-over-year change in both indices. The Composite 10 is off 19.1% over the last year. The Composite 20 is off 18.2% […]
A weak housing market and decreased consumer spending raised the state’s jobless rate to its highest level in 14 years By Dean Calbreath (Contact) Union-Tribune Staff Writer The unemployment rate in California soared to 9.3 percent last month – its highest point in 15 years – as construction firms, hotels, restaurants, casinos and amusement parks […]
