No News is Good News; Good News is Better

*Photo by Phillip Spears via Getty Images* The Case-Shiller index is out this morning, and [**housing prices**](http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245341034827&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true) continued to rise last month. Except perhaps for those shopping for homes, this is unambiguously good news. The more housing wealth, the greater the "wealth effect": the propensity to spend. The greater the spending, the less unemployment. The wheel then turns. Maybe we're heading for a Titanic iceberg, as some of my friends predict. Maybe the fiscal cliff bodes ill. But for those who think we can hang in there and muddle through, good news. - To view a particular city, click Hide All and then select the city's label. - Click and drag your mouse on the chart to zoom in on a particular span of time. - Use the box at top to choose your view: quarterly percent change, yearly percent change, monthly index value. *Prices not adjusted for inflation.* *Interactives by Justin Myers.* *As usual, look for a second post early this afternoon. But please don't blame us if events or technology make that impossible. Meanwhile, let it be known that this entry is cross-posted on the [**Rundown**](http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/)- NewsHour's blog of news and insight.*

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