Okay, can anyone imagine that the chief economist of the National Association of Realtor's might have an agenda? Not the NYT. It presented Lawrence Yun's assessment of the housing market and his view of the need for special government handouts. Mr. Yun complained that, "The economy just simply cannot recover as long as home prices continue to decline." Is that the story? Well suppose the NYT had talked to someone who was able to notice an $8 trillion housing bubble. Such a person might have told the NYT that in some markets, the bubble has deflated and it would be desirable to see prices stabilize. However, in other markets, prices must still fall much further before the bubble is fully deflated. In these markets, it would be extremely stupid for the government to waste taxpayers' dollars trying to stabilize prices. But, hey, why would NYT readers want to get the assessment of someone who recognized the housing bubble and doesn't have a monetary stake in pushing real estate?
--Dean Baker