dr. lacker? >> my question is -- -- >> housing activity was extremely strong by historical standards, especially in the decade from 1995 to 2005, but especially in the several years proceeding 2005. housing activity as i noted has declined to a level that's far below what we need to replace the housing stock, and keep up with it in growing demand for housing stock over time. having said that though, i think the way you should think about it is that we built two expansions worse of housing in one expansion. we've gotten ahead of ourselves in investing and housing and it's going to take years before our need for housing rising to the level where we need to expand construction very much. that's why i said that you know, i think what we should expect and hope for is the level of new home construction that's platt going forward. so markets seem to be pretty liquid. i think that liquidity was awaiting the appearance of a bottom in housing prices, so i think the fact that housing prices appear to have b

dr. lacker. [applause] >> it's a great pleasure to be here with you again. i want to thank rick and kathleen murphy, head of the maryland bankers association who does a great job for inviting me back here again. it's a pleasure to stage with -- share the stage -- [laughter] >> i did catch his assertions that he nailed it. so i fear my presentation might not live up to his quality. i'm trying to make up for it in modesty. [laughter] >> when i spoke to you last january, economic activity was contracting quite sharply. and i thought it was a reasonable expectation to see growth in the second half of last year. and despite that, though, that there was substantial uncertainty about how the cracks would play out. there -- con traction,. in the end, we did see positive momentum in the second half of last year. third quarter growth in real g.d.p. exceeded 2%. and most economists expect to see a determination made that the recession officially ended about the middle of last year. that is undoubtedly good

dr. lacker. as always, very informtive. we appreciate you taking time to come and speak to this group and especially to answer some questions. this concludes our program for the year. the first friday economic outlook forum is an annual event, one we hope we will expand every year as it becomes bigger and better. mark your calendars now for first friday, 2011, january 7 right here. i would like to speak our speakers, maryland association of c.p.a.'s, maryland chamber of commerce, maryland and all of our guests making the first annual friday economic outlook. bundle up and drive carefully. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2010] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] >> the latest on the economic stimulus, over $311 billion has committed to states by the federal government to spend on stimulus projects, that's up $4 billion from last week. over $160 billion has been paid out for those projects. at c-span.org/stimulus, you'll find news conferences, hearings and congressional debate on the eco