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Interesting stats: U.S. house prices have now decline by a greater percentage than during the great depression

This morning Zillow Inc. published numbers that shows that over the past 53 months average house prices in the U.S. have dropped by 26%, thereby beating the 1929-1933 contraction of 25.9% -- of course the numbers for the 1929-33 are based on very fragmented data, but with U6 unemployment around 16%, and house price down by more than 1/4 from their peak, this creates all kinds of pressures on America.

Of course, the pain has been more muted with America providing unemployment and social security benefits that make the pain of unemployment slightly more bearable.  Another interesting statistic:  income inequality in the U.S. is today about the same as it was during the great depression.

The challenge for America is that extraordinary economic growth lays in its past and not its future.  Some are worried about the US dollar going forward.  As a Canadian I am more worried about our primary export market  falling off the cliff.  But that's me!

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