Research Zeitgeist: Top Posts & Hot Topics
Fallout from the subprime mortgage meltdown remains top-of -mind for many visitors to Research Recap. An “oldie but goldie” posted in June, NERA’s Subprime Mortgage Lending Primer continues to attract strong interest. Merrill Lynch’s massive writedown this week and the growing acknowledgment by the Bank of England and others that the repercussions are growing in Europe may be sparking interest in a better understanding of the basis of the subprime problem.
Likewise the CreditSights analysis Is Commercial Real Estate The Next Subprime showed staying power, remaining in the top five for the third straight week.
The internet also featured strongly, led by a roundup of commentary on the Web 2.0 Summit Mary Meeker On Web 2.0, followed by the “facebook for pets” post On The Internet Nobdy Know’s You’re A Dog.
Meanwhile the controversy over the benefits and risks of corn-based ethanol continued unabated. In a letter in today’s Wall Street Journal the National Corn Growers Association takes issue with the WSJ’s assertion cited in Shift To Corn-Based Ethanol Under Attack that corn-based ethanol is a drain on water supplies. In a direct jab, the NCGA claims “The Wall Street Journal is guzzling about 300 million gallons of industrial water per day — twice what the average ethanol plant uses in a year.”
More to the point, the NCGA claims an acre of corn gives off up to 4,000 gallons of water a day through transpiration. Other letters, including one from the Biotechnology Industry Organization argue that ethanol plants are becoming more efficient, recycling increasing amounts of the water they use. More to come, no doubt.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.