My lifelong home is New Orleans. Sixteen years ago this past August, Hurricane Katrina pummeled the city and the entire region, laying waste to the communities of Pass Christian, Waveland and Bay St. Louis on the Mississippi gulf coast, less than an hour east of the city.
Read MoreCategory: The Strategist
Job Growth Continues to Explode
An email appeared in my inbox from the homeowner’s association that runs our subdivision, and it was a forward from the trash hauling company that services our community. They announced they were suspending the collection of recycling until further notice due to an acute shortage of drivers and helpers, so they could focus on the more essential task of collecting…
Read MoreMergers and Acquisitions Dominate the News
In the last couple of months, I have written about the housing boom, as well as an economy on fire, which coupled with the prospects for an infrastructure bill just adds optimism to the outlook for our industry. But as we look out toward the last remaining months of the year, it has been remarkable to witness the growth spurt…
Read MoreThe Economic Boom I Expected
Last month, I wrote about the housing boom that I had been predicting, and since then, the National Association of Realtors released a report stating that construction of new housing in the past 20 years fell 5.5 million units short of long-term historical levels and called for a “once-in-a-generation” policy response. But a booming housing market rife with shortages is…
Read MoreThe Housing Boom I Expected
by Pierre G. Villere Back as far as 2014, as we were slowly and painfully climbing out of our economic lows, I was making my usual round of presentations to industry associations around the country, and I was gazing intently into my crystal ball and trying to understand the future of the housing market.
Read MoreA Foreclosure Crisis? Not Likely
By Pierre G Villere Chicken Little. It drives me crazy when down-in-the-mouth pundits try to scare the public with pronouncements about pending doom.
Read MoreWell – Aren’t We Affluent?
by Pierre. G. Villere It has been interesting to watch how we have changed as a society over the course of my lifetime, and I marvel at how the standard of living for America’s middle class has grown over my almost 70 years, in what I call a history of “affluence expansion.”
Read MoreThe Quest for Full Employment
By Pierre G. Villere The economic metrics of 2020 are certainly one for the history books and will be studied and dissected at business schools for generations to come. It’s simple: we were a powerful economic engine globally that was hitting on all eight cylinders, and the sudden shutdown of society as a result of the pandemic in mid-March hurtled…
Read MoreHow Population Growth Drives the Construction Economy
by: Pierre G. Villere I have long espoused that consumer sentiment is the most important driver in our economy. When sentiment is in the doldrums, the economy slows, and in contrast, when sentiment is buoyed by the average consumer feeling good about their jobs and their future, the economy expands.
Read MoreThe Promise of 2021
by: Pierre G. Villere The Christmas holidays are behind us, and we rang in the New Year, leaving 2020 behind.
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