A modest energy program proposal: Pruises for everyone

At 50 mpg (almost double the new CAFE standards for all American vehicle fleets), would spending $400 billion over 10 years to get everyone a Pruis be a good economic and green stimulus? 

This is from the L.A. Times automotive writer, so don't expect any full scale lifecycle analysis, but you will get the scoop on the new 2010 model.

P.S. The new CAFE standards are a bit underwhelming, coming in 1 mpg less than what automakers already delivered for cars in 2007 and 1 mpg over what they did for light trucks.

Houses are homes, not investments

While you're still better off building equity instead of paying rent (and deducting mortgage interest from your taxes), my friend at 28th Avenue notes that the housing market isn't the greatest right now.

The big thing: don't expect a lot of value appreciation in your home in the next couple years. 28th links to Calculated Risk, which quotes Fed Chair Bernanke:

To the downside, the correction in the housing market could turn out to be more severe than we currently expect, perhaps exacerbated by problems in the subprime sector. Moreover, we could yet see greater spillover from the weakness in housing to employment and consumer spending than has occurred thus far.

Update 4/12: Check out the comments from EKM, where he links to an amazing tool posted by the New York Times for calculating whether it's better to rent or buy in your particular area.