From the Human Impact Report, page 85: The approach of comparing the trends in weather-related and geophysical disasters is based on an analysis of loss-generating events in the publication Journal of Flood Risk. The article states that by “Assuming the socio-economic driving factors behind loss-generating events to be the same for all causes, the difference […]
From Calculated Risk: The graph is of the monthly Philly Fed data of the number of states with one month increasing activity. Most of the U.S. has been in recession since December 2007 based on this indicator. Almost all states showed declining activity in April. Still a widespread recession. … Philly Fed State Coincident Indexes […]
American west threatened by more heatwaves than past models have predicted By Hannah Hoag Extreme temperatures are expected to become more common in the western United States by 2040 if greenhouse gases continue to rise, researchers say. Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, and his colleagues simulated climate change […]
From Calculated Risk: The graph shows the year-over-year change in both indices. The Composite 10 is off 18.6% over the last year. The Composite 20 is off 18.7% over the last year. This is near the worst year-over-year price declines for the Composite indices since the housing bubble burst started. … Case-Shiller: Prices Fall Sharply […]
From Calculated Risk: This graph shows broker’s commissions as a percent of GDP. Not surprisingly – giving the housing bubble – broker’s commissions soared in recent years, rising from $56 billion in 2000, to $109 billion in 2005. Commissions have declined to an annual rate of $57 billion in Q1 2009 – the lowest since […]
By PETER S. GOODMAN and JACK HEALY As job losses rise, growing numbers of American homeowners with once solid credit are falling behind on their mortgages, amplifying a wave of foreclosures. In the latest phase of the nation’s real estate disaster, the locus of trouble has shifted from subprime loans — those extended to home […]
“We will only recognize Peak Oil in the rear-view mirror.” — So They say The May 2009 edition of Oilwatch Monthly can be downloaded at this weblink (PDF, 2.0 MB, 28 pp). … 1) Conventional crude production – Latest available figures from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) show that crude oil production including lease condensates […]
From Calculated Risk: Total housing starts were at 458 thousand (SAAR) in April, the all time record low. The previous record low was 488 thousand in January (the lowest level since the Census Bureau began tracking housing starts in 1959). Single-family starts were at 368 thousand (SAAR) in April; just above the revised record low […]
From Calculated Risk: As everyone knows, investment in single family structures has fallen off a cliff. This is the component of RI that gets all the media attention – although usually from stories about single family starts and new home sales. … Home improvement is at 1.15% of GDP, off the high of 1.30% in […]
From Calculated Risk: This graph shows Capacity Utilization. This series is at another record low (the series starts in 1967). In addition to the weakness in industrial production, there is little reason for investment in new production facilities until capacity utilization recovers. … Industrial Production Declines, now 16% Below Peak Technorati Tags: financial collapse
