Monday, January 5, 2009

Construction spending so far higher in Q4 than in Q3

  1. November construction spending averaged $89.9 billion.
  2. October construction spending averaged $90.4 billion.
  3. Q3 monthly construction spending averaged $89.9 billion.
All of these are seasonally adjusted.

It seems to me that Q4 may well finish with more NOMINAL construction spending than Q3. Construction is also cheaper in Q4 than in Q3 --> more REAL construction in Q4 than in Q3.

Can someone explain to me where I can see this fall's credit crisis depress real aggregate activity? I don't see it in real payrolls (more on that Wednesday), real proprietor's income (more on that Thursday), or real construction spending.

The whole justification of the $700 billion bailout reminds me of the supposed WMD in Iraq -- scary but nonexistent. A payoll collapse, small business collapse, and construction collapse were somehow all prevented without the $700 billion.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I just wrote on this subject today. I looked at total bank credit to see the liquidity catastrophe, but it wasn't there.