Economic Research and Data
Features
- Five Policy Considerations for Improving Ohio’s Housing Markets
- Ohio's housing markets still face a number of challenges, such as elevated foreclosure rates and a prevalence of vacant, low-value housing. This paper suggests five areas where policy interventions are worth considering. Read more
- Housing Recovery?
- The lowest point of the housing bust was characterized by a glut of supply. Homes for sale remained on the market longer, and foreclosed homes and those with mortgages in default added to or threatened to add to this inventory. As a result, prices fell, and construction of new homes fell to extremely low levels. While there are many encouraging signs of recovery in housing markets at the national level, there is a good amount of variation in the degree of recovery across the country. Read more
- Why Are the CPI and the PCE Giving Different Estimates of Inflation?
- In January 2012, the Federal Open Market Committee announced that its long-run objective for inflation was 2 percent as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures price index. At the time, the PCE appeared to be moving toward this target. But since then, PCE-based measures have drifted down. Toward the end of 2011, the year-over-year change in the PCE was close to 3 percent, but by March, when the PCE fell 0.1 percent, the 12-month percent change in the index had fallen to just under 1 percent. This has prompted some FOMC participants to suggest recently that the Committee may need to act to address this disinflation. Read more