Learning
The US Housing and Mortgage Market, Risks and Resilience: Federal Reserve Governor Michelle W. Bowman
"In total, home prices in September were 21 percent higher than in June 2020. Home price increases are also widespread. In September, about 90 percent of American cities had experienced rising home prices over the past three months, and the home price increases were substantial in most of these cities... The demand for housing has risen for several reasons. Interest rates are low, families have accumulated savings, and income growth in the past 18 months has been quite strong. Families are also reconsidering where, and in what kind of home, they want to live. Purchases of second homes, for example, have been somewhat high in the past 18 months. Meanwhile, the supply of new homes has been held back by shortages of materials, labor, and developed lots." more »
The National Institutes of Health’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx): When to Test Offers Free Online Tool to Help Individuals Make Informed COVID-19 Testing Decisions
The When To Test Calculator for Individuals was developed and tested by computer modelers to help people determine if they are at risk of getting or transmitting COVID-19 based on just a few variables, such as vaccination status, transmission rates in the geographic area, and mitigation behaviors. The calculator includes answers to frequently asked questions and links both to resources on testing strategies and on obtaining supplies, including home tests. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) supported development of the When To Test website and calculators through the RADx Tech program. more »
The Federal Open Market Committee Statement: The Path of the Economy Continues to Depend On The Course Of The Virus
"The path of the economy continues to depend on the course of the virus. Progress on vaccinations and an easing of supply constraints are expected to support continued gains in economic activity and employment as well as a reduction in inflation. Risks to the economic outlook remain.The Committee seeks to achieve maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run. With inflation having run persistently below this longer-run goal, the Committee will aim to achieve inflation moderately above 2 percent for some time so that inflation averages 2 percent over time and longer‑term inflation expectations remain well anchored at 2 percent." more »
Berkeley Talks Transcript: Finding Hope for Biodiversity Conservation, An Interview With Bree Rosenblum, Global Change Biology Professor at UC Berkeley
"Extinction is also not new on our planet. We estimate that more than 99% of species that ever existed on the planet have gone extinct. So extinction is a natural process on planet earth but what’s different about the dynamics of extinction today are the pace, extinctions are happening much more quickly than they have in the past, and the cause. Extinctions have never before been caused by a single species. So species have always caused each others’ extinction because of species interactions. But the fact that we have a single species, our species, that’s having a global impact on extinction patterns around the world is new. This is something that we think has never happened before on the history of our planet. And so extinction is a natural process, but extinction is being accelerated because of human impacts on the planet." more »