Are we really thinking about the implications of that?  I’ve already reported studies that show Americans are now far more likely to pay their other bills first before their mortgage (which is a big turnaround historically speaking.)  That means they pay off their credit cards, cable bills, car loans in place of their home loans. [...]

U.S. construction spending fell for a third straight month to its lowest level since June 2003 in January, pulled down by a slump in private nonresidential spending and weak public construction, a government report showed on Monday.  The Commerce Department said construction spending dropped 0.6 percent to $884.13 billion, after falling by an unrevised 1.2 [...]