Some people are worried about the effect of the U.S. economy and the policy responses to it. They worry that the dollar will plummet in value as global investors pull money out of the U.S. economy and decline to invest in U.S. Treasury bonds, the method by which the U.S. government finances annual budget deficits (and refinances older bonds). This worry is not justified. The dynamic described is not happening in any form or fashion.

By Anna Gonzales, First American Title

Title insurance has become an important necessity do to the high risk involved in buying, selling or financing real property. Title insurance is an insured statement of the condition of your “title” or ownership rights to a certain piece of property.

I was fortunate enough to live in Spring and go to a Klein ISD high school, Klein Oak, at the same time with "rising network star" Jim Parsons, currently starring as "Sheldon" in the hit CBS comedy series, "The Big Bang Theory."

Apparently since June, Houston area hospitals have been noticing a big rise in newborn babies.

From Reuters on Friday:

The Associated Press is reporting that the administration and congress are undecided about whether to extend the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit, which is set to expire November 30 of this year. The credit allows up to an $8,000 refundable tax credit on the purchase of a first-time home. It's been a very effective policy for the past year, key to improving economic conditions in the U.S.

From Dina ElBoghdady at The Washington Post yesterday and today.  News about the critical FHA program this week will be that it likely needs additional funds from congress. The controversy is likely to have a flavor of the bail-out debate infused with how important the FHA loan program is to the recovery of the housing sector. From the articles:

In the 1990's there was a lot of discussion about "The Third Way" -- something "between" the private and public sectors. I had an opportunity to study the thinking at the time both in undergraduate and graduate school with the preeminent thought-leaders at that time. Truly I now believe that idea was merely an attempt to appease the prevailing dogmatic anti-regulation thinking of the prior 25 years, before Reagan's "government IS the problem" mantra.

The most efficient use of space is a square. Rounded walls take too much work to get smooth and round. And squares fit together really well.

Leftward liberals and rightward conservatives are both missing the mark when it comes to how they're framing economic issues. While some partisans of any stripe may have a roughly correct conclusion here and there, the reasoning involved is rarely enlightening for "pocket-book centrists" - a term for the majority of Americans simply concerned with living a comfortable and fair American dream. This morning, the much vaunted cultural critic Frank Rich writes in The Times that: