OpenMarkets

Weekly Roundup: Shiller on Housing as An Investment, BRICS Slowing Down and Latest on Keystone XL

Feb 8, 2013 || Anita Liskey || No Comments

The benchmark Case-Shiller housing index for January showed the largest year over year growth in U.S. home prices since 2006. But that doesn’t mean Robert Shiller, for whom the index is partially named, is suggesting you buy a house anytime soon. He’s not sure the market has bottomed out, and on the idea of housing as an investment, he told Bloomberg this week in the above video:

“So, why was it considered an investment? That was a fad. That was an idea that took hold in the early 2000′s. And I don’t expect it to come back. Not with the same force. So people might just decide, ‘Yeah, I’ll diversify my portfolio. I’ll live in a rental.’ That is a very sensible thing for many people to do.”

Read the OpenMarkets profile of Shiller here.

A few other stories to check out from the past week:

Pressure is mounting on India as their GDP slows (Financial Times)

Rising inflation may cause Brazil’s central bank to raise interest rates (Reuters)

Could futures markets be the cure for a post-growth world? (Project Syndicate)

On Monday, the USDA will begin releasing 10 year agricultural projections. (USDA)

Will the Keystone XL pipeline be getting the green light soon? (Bloomberg)

An online debate over the costs and benefits of fracking technology (The Economist)

Europe is using a lot more U.S. coal. (The Washington Post)