As shown, the “pig in the python” effect is evident. Over the next two years, that “bulge” of excess liquidity will revert to the previous growth trend. Economic growth will lag the ...

Zelman closely watches the problem loans (the pig) that need to be moved through the long foreclosure and REO process (the python), so that the houses can be put out onto the market and absorbed.

You’ve got to go back a few generations to locate the origins of the phrase "the pig through the python," but it comes to mind as we see economic machinations dampen our near-term rally on ...