Monotonist Manifesto

A number of mentions made recently of Ibex Salad seem to locate us somewhere within an ideological camp that can only be described with one word - optimist. We would like to correct that error of perception. We are not optimists. We are monotonists.

The monotonist, believing as he or she does so fervently that recessions are fundamentally boring (and that long-lived recessions are fundamentally very, very boring), may appear to be a bright eyed and bushy tailed utopian when compared to, say, others who assume that the worst is yet to come. We can divide this lot into two, sometimes overlapping, groups - each dissatisfied in its own way with the apocalypse that was the collapse, last fall and winter, of all we held true and dear:

1). Those that persist in insisting that the end remains imminent with a religious righteousness that seems to obscure from their view that they might be betting tails on a two-headed coin. But God does not play dice, etc.;

2). The malcontents that behave like customers demanding their money back from the operator of an amusement park thrill ride that proved to be not nearly as scary as advertised.

To help these unfortunates get over it and on with their lives, we present this month's boring edition of home sale statistics for Spain. Monotony, by the way, is expressed on a graph as a flat line. A resumé:

1). New home sales have been stuck in a range between 21,000 and 17,000 a month since November 2008;

2). The same for used homes is between 13,000 and 18,000 since last October;

3). The recent monotonizing of the 12-month rolling sums of these two is notable - 234,743 and 198,703 units, respectively.

Free Bonus Statistic For Optimists

Seven more new homes were sold in August than in the same month one year ago. Those with an understanding of seasonality might derive some solace from this.

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