After reading some of the commentary regarding the housing starts report this morning, it might be useful to reiterate these three points: Residential investment is the best leading indicator for the economy. Residential investment will not recover rapidly because of the large overhang of existing vacant housing units. Existing home sales are largely irrelevant for the economy. Residential investment is reported quarterly by the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) as part of the GDP report. We can also use monthly housing starts and new home sales as indicators of residential investment. I've written extensively about how residential investment is an excellent leading indicator for the economy (also see Dr. Leamer's paper: ) This morning several commentators suggested that housing starts were depressed in October because of the expiration of the tax credit (new home buyers had to close by Nov 30th to get the tax credit), and also because of the weather. Probably. But the key point is that housing starts will not increase rapidly because of the large overhang of existing vacant housing units (see ). And that suggests that the economy will not recover quickly either. Another key...