Get this man a new job

Henry Paulson, apparently not satisfied with his current position as Secretary of the Treasury, would seem to be advocating for a new job with the ever bubble-bedazzled National Association of Realtors with his statements today on the housing market. Quoth Marketwatch:

...Paulson said in a speech to an FDIC conference on low-income workers access to the mortgage markets. Paulson said that home prices typically include foreclosure sales, which usually occur at a discount. In some cities, foreclosure sales have spiked. For instance, foreclosure sales in March were 29% of sales in Los Angeles, Paulson said. Existing home sales appear to have flattened...

You have to love this logic: the sales occur at a discount, so they don't count. Put another way, sales statistics should only incorporate sales that occur at their stated or correct price, or they will drag the numbers down. This is the kind of sound judgment we really want to hear from our seniormost financial officials.

Or perhaps he said this to make Bush's statements sound rational and intelligent by contrast. That's called taking one for the team.