links for 2008-01-04

• World's Top 10 Most Polluted Places - Scientific American
• Does mass media influence voters: Evidence from the US - Vox EU
• New Year Brings Another False Dawn for Housing - Caroline Baum
• How Does the Subprime Bust Compare to Past Crises? - Zubin Jelveh
• Are violins a good investment? - Kathryn Graddy - Vox EU
• Everything Old is "New" Again - Ken Houghton
• An old Chinese myth (dependence on exports) - Economist.com
• A strategy to help Afghanistan kick its habit - FT.com
• US presidential candidates and their views on scientific issues - EurekAlert
• Business growth is not an end in itself - FT.com
• A new IMF role: global stabilizer - Project Syndicate
• Civil war: Does international trade help or hurt? - Philippe Martin - Vox EU
• Return of the Swift Boaters - Christopher Hayes
• Financial Globalization and the U.S. Current Account Deficit - FRB New York
• Inflation Dynamics and the New Keynesian Phillips Curve (pdf) - FRB Richmond
• Suicide Bombings in Iraq - Spencer Ackerman
• What about the cities? -  Ed Glaeser - The Boston Globe
• Smithsonian scientists highlight environmental impacts of biofuels - EurekAlert

Comments

[Supply Demand Mismatch]

With regard to Caroline Baum's article, builders reducing production of expensive homes makes sense. There is no market for the number of expensive homes extant. Low cost homes are selling relatively well, so a market for them exists. It seems like all the builders are attempting to serve only the top 20% of the population. There is a glut of homes that the top 20% can afford, and a lack of homes that the other 80% can afford.

[Misplaced Priorities]

Ed Glaeser is missing the number one reason for many cities declining. Violent and property crime is driving the middle class out. The middle class/working class will not stay in a place they don't feel safe. When they flee an area, the area lacks the resources to sustain a vibrant economy.

[Barry]

"Violent and property crime is driving the middle class out."

Odd that, considering the trends in violent crime rates for the past few decades.

[anne]

Another difficult month for job creation:

The job creation number through the Presidency of Bill Clinton was actually 225,000 a month, with total job creation of 21.6 million. Taking the favored 52 months of the Bush Presidency, from August 2003 to December 2007, 8.3 million jobs have been created or 160,000 jobs created a month. * That is almost 3.4 million fewer jobs created during the 52 most favored months of the Bush Presidency.

* http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/12/20071207.html

[anne]

We created 2.7 million jobs a year from 1992 to 2000, but we were under 1.5 million in 2007. We were below 95,000 a month for the final quarter in 2007. There has to be considerable concern at the Federal Reserve about a recession, and I would think a possible 50 basis point Federal Funds rate reduction.

[Winslow R.]

Comerica will be the next Enron though this time with a Dallas location:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080104/us_nm/treasury_debitcard_dc