The Republicans have a very long history of being regressives. Reagan was never inventive in his economic strategy. He simply deregulated dearly important environmental policies, among others. George W. Bush simply had no ideas regarding an economic strategy except to use hubris to exaggerate 'the feeling' of confidence where there was none. He was able to 'pull it off' because of a cooperative majority Republican House and Senate.
A record American deficit to fund pork projects while exploiting American health to bolster profits at any cost. At every turn, the Bush/Cheney administration exploited old Republican stalwarts of crony infrastructure to create still 'again' a faux American economy. Every measure should be taken legislatively in a majority Democratic House and Senate to prevent such exploitation again.
The USA natural resources are dearly limited and need to be protected while other safe but synthetic materials are 'manufactured' in the USA to accomodate growth while realizing alternatives to energy, transportation and housing materials ARE the future of the economic strength of this country.
The USA under Democratic leadership has always been regulated for consumer protection while encouraging invention to a better quality of life rather than a diminishment of it. The USA's greatest strength for the future is to discard the ways of the past and plot a new and inventive path the world will envy.
Let's get on with it, shall we?
"Nature Materials" (click here)
Materials science or materials engineering is an interdisciplinary field involving the properties of matter and its applications to various areas of science and engineering. This science investigates the relationship between the structure of materials and their properties. It includes elements of applied physics and chemistry, as well as chemical, mechanical, civil and electrical engineering. With significant media attention to nanoscience and nanotechnology in the recent years, materials science has been propelled to the forefront at many universities.
Want a 'real' financial paper to read? Barron's !!!!
Today's Barron's Headlines ! Now tell me who believes in the potential of the future?
A Bet on Eco-Friendly Plastics (click here)
By Naureen S. Malik
Word Count: 970 Companies Featured in This Article: Metabolix, Target, Archer Daniels Midland, Abbott Laboratories
DUSTIN HOFFMAN'S CHARACTER IN the 1967 film "The Graduate" received one word of career advice from a well-intentioned family friend: "plastics."
But if the film were made in today's greener times, the advice might have come in two words: "biodegradable plastics."
Metabolix, though currently unprofitable, is at the forefront of developing this new type of environmentally-friend plastic. Derived from corn, natural plastic completely breaks down to its basic elements of carbon dioxide and water on its own whether it is in a landfill or sitting in water. These plastics can be engineered to biodegrade over weeks or months.
Next year ...
Robert Shiller is a professor of economics at Yale University, and is also one of the first to have pointed out the possibility of a housing bubble in print (as opposed to online). Above is a graph from data he compiled while writing the second edition of Irrational Exuberance that appeared in Barron’s not too long ago.
The USA Economy is headed for a slide into a huge depression even with the best bail out program that can only be designed by a Bush, after all Neil Bush should know, was it Silverado?
The much coveted coastal areas of the USA experience huge over valued home prices. The recession of the USA will be most felt in Blue states where Republicans will attempt to exploit it for political gain in any elections across the board.
October home prices post record decline
A sale sign stands outside a home for sale at a co-housing development in Lafayette, Colo., on Friday, Oct. 19, 2007. U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, declining a record 6.7 percent compared with a year ago, according to the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
By Stephen Bernard
AP Business Writer / December 26, 2007
NEW YORK—U.S. home prices fell in October for the 10th consecutive month, posting their largest drop since early 1991, according to a key index released Wednesday.
The record 6.7 percent slide in the Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index also marked the 23rd consecutive month that prices either fell or grew more slowly than the month prior.
"No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim," said Robert Shiller, who helped create the index, in a statement.
The previous record decline was 6.3 percent, recorded in April 1991. The index tracks prices of existing single-family homes in 10 metropolitan areas.
http://www.boston.com/realestate/news/articles/2007/12/26/october_home_prices_post_record_decline/
U.S. STOCKS
Retail woes put drag on market
ELIZABETH STANTON
Bloomberg News
December 27, 2007
Most U.S. stocks fell for the first time in four days as slower sales at Target Corp. and a bigger-than-expected drop in home prices overshadowed a rally in energy companies.
Circuit City Stores Inc., Big Lots Inc. and Dillard's Inc. led declines in 28 of 31 members of the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index.
CB Richard Ellis Group Inc., the world's largest commercial real estate broker, posted its steepest retreat in two weeks.
Citigroup Inc., the biggest U.S. bank, fell the most in the Dow Jones industrial average after billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he rebuffed financial firms that approached him about buying stakes.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20071227.RMARKETWRAP27/TPStory/Business
U.S. home prices plunge
October housing values down 6.7% from 2006, index says
December 27, 2007
BY GRETA GUEST
FREE PRESS BUSINESS WRITER
U.S. single-family home prices fell a record 6.7% in October compared with 2006, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index released Wednesday.
And home prices in metro Detroit were 11.2% lower this October compared with the previous year, the index found.
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The national index measures annual returns from the nation's 10 largest cities. The metro area breakouts include the top 20 markets.
"No matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim," said Robert J. Shiller, chief economist for MacroMarkets LLC.
Miami had the largest decline in home prices for October at 12.4% down from the same month a year earlier. Tampa followed with an 11.8% drop and Detroit placed third.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071227/BUSINESS04/712270337
Japan Stocks Fall After U.S. Home Prices Drop Most in 6 Years
By Patrick Rial and Kotaro Tsunetomi
Dec. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks fell for the first time in five days after U.S. home prices slumped by the most in at least six years, sparking concern the worsening housing recession will lead to more losses on mortgage-backed securities.
Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. led declines among banks. Honda Motor Co. slipped on speculation the housing slump will drag down spending.
``Housing prices continue to fall in the U.S. and as that erodes people's equity in their homes we could see consumer spending take a dive,'' said Hideyuki Ookoshi, who helps oversee $365 million at Chiba-Gin Asset Management Co. in Tokyo. ``The feeling is that the U.S. economic outlook is dim.''
Lenders also dropped after the Nikkei newspaper reported consumer finance companies will pay twice as much out in customer refunds in 2007 versus the previous year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=alKe.qlecRQ8&refer=japan
Record Fall For US Home Prices
By Dee Chisamera
12:17, December 27th 2007
The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Schiller home price index showed on Wednesday a 6.1% record price drop since October 2006 in 20 metropolitan areas, the largest in the last 10 years.
Ten of the metropolitan areas recorded the most significant drop since 1991, reaching 6.7%, compared cu 6.3% 16 years ago.
Robert Schiller, chief economist at Macro Markets LLC, said that “no matter how you look at these data, it is obvious that the current state of the single-family housing market remains grim.”
Among the metropolitan areas with the largest drops, Miami comes first with 12.4%, followed by Tampa, with a 11.8% drop, 11.2% in Detroit and 11.1% in San Diego.
There were however positive growth rates in three areas, out of which Charlotte gained the most, 4.3%, then came Seattle with 3.3%, and Portland with 1.9%.
Looking at the index from a month-to-month perspective, the percentages dropped 1.6 in October compared to September, which makes this the tenth consecutive month of continuous decline.
According to Joshua Shapiro, chief economist for Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc, home prices are to considerably decline taking into account the harder to obtain mortgages and the increasing number of unsold homes, and the tendency will comprise the same major metropolitan areas.
http://www.efluxmedia.com/news_Record_Fall_For_US_Home_Prices_12267.html
