An interesting infographic from yesterday’s Times on the extent of the subprime foreclosure situation (aka, the shitpile) across the country (there is no direct link to the chart, you need to click on the “Multimedia” link on the left). The big map tells us that the NYC metro area has a an above average number of subprime foreclosures, but that the ratio of subprime loans to total loans in lower in our region than in most. The smaller maps at the bottom are more interesting, though (and more of a silver lining): on a per capita basis, the construction boom in the NYC metro area has seen a below average number of new housing units, and, the area has a below average unemployment rate. Hopefully those numbers mean that there will be a little bit less shit in the shitpile in our area.

(Be careful of the chart junk in the big map. The perspective skews in favor of the southern states, and the area of the extrusions has no meaning. Rather than relying on arbitrary geographical boundaries, it would have been more useful to adjust the area of each bar to indicate the volume of troubled (or total) loans. Then we could better compare, say, St. Louis to New York to Las Vegas, or Barnstable to Minneapolis to Sacramento.)