1115.org

Paulson: Housing ‘at or near bottom’ - Reuters (7/2/07):

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday the U.S. housing market correction was “at or near the bottom,” although it could be some time before an upturn.

“In terms of looking at housing, most of us believe that it’s at or near the bottom,” he told Reuters. “It’s had a significant impact on the economy. No one is forecasting when, with any degree of clarity, that the upturn is going to come other than it’s at or near the bottom.”
[...]
Paulson, who was chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. before taking the top Treasury post last year, said he monitors financial markets closely, and aside from the subprime situation, they remain healthy.

“Markets are volatile,” he said. “I haven’t seen a single thing that surprises me - it’s hard to surprise me.”

It’s impossible to surprise me when it comes to the level of hackery to which Paulson will stoop. Here he is on 4/20/07:

In a question-and-answer session, Paulson delivered an upbeat assessment of the economy, saying growth was healthy and the housing market was nearing a turnaround.

“All the signs I look at” show “the housing market is at or near the bottom,” Paulson said. The U.S. economy is “very healthy” and “robust,” he said

Since April, nearly every analyst, homebuilder, and real estate group has reported further, significant softening in the housing market. Two huge hedge funds built on junk paper from sub-prime home loans have been bailed out just before default. This isn’t about spinning economic news. There are people out there buying houses because they think this is a bottom, encouraged by dishonest hacks like Paulson. It’s one thing when the hacks are shills for their industry. It’s wholly another when that person is a high-ranking cabinet secretary.