Why Would an Economist Expect Home Sales to Rise From Current Levels?

Economists seem to specialize in saying silly things about the economy. In a NYT article that discussed the prospect of consumers leading a recovery, Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist at IHS Global Insight, is cited as saying that it would take a jump in employment to bring about a rebound in house sales.

It is difficult to understand why any economist would expect sales to move substantially above current levels. Existing home sales have been around 4.6 million in recent months. By compa...