It took the statisticians of the National Bureau of Economic Research almost a year to confirm what the rest of us already knew, that the US registered a significant decline in economic activity, thus officially entering a period of recession.  While I am pleased that the members of NBER take their duties seriously, thereby ensuring that they don’t leap to any hasty conclusions, I only wish that similar moderation could be displayed by their colleagues at the Fed and the Treasury.

Home construction maven Toll Brothers Inc. (NYSE:TOL) joined the choir of the footsore and cash-starved today by calling on government to make it all better. According to CEO Robert Toll, the U.S. government needs to “aid” the housing market, primarily by propping up home values.