A report from the Citizen Times in North Carolina. "Mike Figura, owner of the Asheville-based Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty, told the Citizen Times that the 2023 home market felt like 'a little bit of an enigma.' 'It looked like prices escalated and then flattened or even dropped in some price points as interest rates rose throughout the second half of the year,' Figura said. Those looking to find a luxury home in Buncombe County or Asheville are in luck. There are years worth of luxury homes on the market. Mosaic Community Lifestyle Realty third quarter market analysis found that there are over 18 months worth of luxury homes on the market priced above $1.5 million. For homes priced above $1 million, that number increases to nearly 30 months' worth."

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. "2023 was not an easy year for San Francisco’s elite real estate market. The most expensive homes sold this year didn’t endure bidding wars — none of the homes received over-asking bids at all. The banking crisis and the stock market’s decline in the spring all likely had some effect, but local real estate experts also suspect the media-fueled 'doom loop' image that plagued San Francisco this year also affected top-tier real estate. 2121 Webster St., PH 1-7: The sale of this Pacific Heights property was noteworthy in that the buyer purchased what is effectively two units, #1 and #7. Despite its glamor, the oversized penthouse struggled to find a buyer, hitting the market in January of 2022 at $24.5 million and finally selling in September 2023 for $17.5 million."

"Just a block away from the Presidio, 3410 Jackson Street debuted with an asking price of $23.5 million in February 2023. But by April 2023, with no buyer, the listing was reduced to $20 million. In May, it sold for $18.5 million. 9 25th Ave.: Despite the obvious opulence and celebrity-designed interiors, this property — which listed for $32 million in September 2022 — had to wait until April of 2023 to change hands, when it finally sold for $20 million. 2750 Vallejo St.: $23.5 million: It was listed in May 2023 for $29.8 million and then pulled from the market in June. In August, it was reported sold for $23.5 million."

"3450 Washington St.: This historic 9,865-square-foot mansion made news in October of 2022 when it debuted for a potentially record-breaking price of $45 million. Despite its luxury and iconic location, 3450 Washington lingered on the market and a few months later made news again with a $5.5 million price cut. However, 2022 passed without a buyer. Finally, the home sold in March 2023 for $34.5 million — the highest price this year for a residential sale in San Francisco but a dramatic discount from its initial $45 million asking price."

CBS Colorado. "Residents at a Denver apartment complex say their home is overrun with people experiencing homelessness. People living at the Renaissance Uptown Apartments describe their hallways as a shelter. Mark Dalpes has lived there for years. 'When I moved in, everything was secure. It was great,' said Dalpes. 'I don't know if it's the cold weather or what, but lately it has been terrible.' Dalpes is employed nearby as a security guard, but this month he says it feels as though he's working security at home. He sees homeless people sleeping in the hallways and common areas, drug use, urination on the property and more."

"'It's frustrating because I've worked my butt off to get an apartment here. And these people are basically stealing our comfort zone,' said Dalpes. 'We've called police. They tell us to talk to management. We've been talking to management and nothing's getting better.' Now he's thinking about moving, but he can't afford it. 'I'm concerned. I'm afraid something violent is going to happen soon,' said Dalpes."

The National Post. "Say that you carved out an uninhabited piece of Northern Saskatchewan and between July 1 and Oct. 1 you directed every single newcomer to move there and found a new city. By Oct. 2, that would be Canada’s 11th largest metro area ; larger than Victoria, Halifax, Windsor or Saskatoon. More than a few economists have noted that Canada is now essentially bringing in a large city’s worth of people every quarter. 'That’s like presto, here’s a new city of London, Ont., created in one quarter. Or almost a new city of Hamilton,' was the analysis of one Scotiabank economist , who also opined 'immigration is excessive full stop.'"

"In just two years, Canada’s population of 'non-permanent residents' has doubled to 2.5 million . That’s a population larger than all of Atlantic Canada composed of people who cannot vote, are mostly ineligible for government services and can be deported at any time. In the critical words of one analyst, Canada is building a 'feudal underclass of temporary workers.' In 2014 — the last full year before the election of Justin Trudeau — Canada brought in 260,400 immigrants. And that was really high for the time. As Statistics Canada noted , it was 'one of the highest levels in more than 100 years.' The figure easily ranked then-prime minister Stephen Harper as the most pro-immigration conservative leader on the entire planet."

"A mere nine years later, 260,000 is a drop in the bucket. At current rates, that would account for just 52 days’ worth of immigration. Polls are clear that one of the main reasons Canadians are turning against the Trudeau government is because housing keeps reaching meteoric new highs of unaffordability. One particularly telling statistic from last year was that Canada brought in roughly the same raw number of migrants as the United States — a country 10 times the size (and one with far more reasonable real estate prices). And that’s despite the fact that U.S. net migration is hitting ten-year highs."

The Telegraph. "Germany’s decline as the economic engine of the eurozone has been nothing short of staggering. Berlin, largely under Angela Merkel’s administration, ran a supposedly tight ship while happily dishing out advice to the perceived profligate laggards of the southern European states. As the debts of nations such as Greece caused ructions for the currency area a decade ago, it was Merkel who held all the power. Yet the combination of the pandemic, China’s slowdown and the energy crisis have brutally exposed the flaws in Germany’s economic model. Its reliance on dictatorships has proven its undoing and the latest business indicators suggest recession looms."

"Tight limits on public debt mean the government has little room for manoeuvre. With the private sector stalling and key sectors such as car manufacturing facing costly transitions to net zero, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Hamburg-based Berenberg Bank says the outlook for Germany is bleak. 'The direction is relatively clear: it is going to be negative for the German growth outlook once again.'"

From Counterpunch. "Just when it seemed that the EU was playing a leading role in abandoning fossil fuels and nuclear power, the far right has with considerable success stopped or watered down regulations in support of a green economy. Even the more moderate leaderships, such as in France, have had to alter their positions on the Green Deal in order to keep their ruling coalition intact. As one writer puts it: 'Today, conservatives across the region believe there’s more to be won obstructing climate policies alongside the hard right than supporting them. In part, this shift in European conservatism is a response to a vibrant hard right that has managed to tie climate legislation to effete, urban liberals.'"

"We see the same caving in to the far right on immigration. A European writer observes that the far right and the center-right now seem to share 'a civilizational vision of a white, Christian Europe that is menaced by outsiders, especially Muslims.' The writer goes on to observe that, 'In contrast to its progressive image, the European Union has, like Donald Trump, sought to build a wall — in this case, in the Mediterranean — to stop migrants from arriving on its shores.'"

The Irish Star. "In 2017, I wrote a column headlined: Political Correctness Will Hurt Us All In The End. Now, the stranglehold of political correctness – and its toxic tentacles like cancel culture – is at the root of all that’s rotten in Ireland today. Society itself is suffering. Those it purported to help are often the ones bearing the brunt of it. Those who strive for social justice know ramming views down throats never works. With its stifling of free speech, rigid ideology, performative outrage, thought policing and prissy judgment, it was all too 1984 for me. I recognized early on it was hypocritical and bullying – ultimately sowing disharmony and division – and it needed to be fought against."

"No matter what names you were called for doing it. By the time it became widely understood, many were too afraid to do so. Now it’s like a plague on culture, constraining artists’ freedom of expression, censoring books and music, anaesthetising comedy and infecting film and TV with preachy posturing. In society, it’s forcing employees to use nonsense phrases like 'pregnant person' while not having a clue why. It can also be signing off work emails with preferred pronouns in some kind of emperor’s new clothes madness."

"More seriously, it’s an oppressive force that’s having a detrimental effect on the running of the country and the willingness of public figures to stand for common sense and fairness. Especially when it comes to the anointed two most controversial issues – the trans debate and immigration. Discussing either is like walking through a minefield. The modern day pharisees are waiting for whoever speaks up to tread on a landmine."

"So most Irish party politicians won’t say what the vast majority are thinking. It was refreshing this week to read British Equality Minister Kemi Badenoch speaking out on it, saying gender identity is 'a contested and confused ideology.' She said: 'The debate around it had become toxic, hijacked by special interest groups with a specific agenda. We have seen the worst of this played out in our schools. Teaching children that you can be born in the ‘wrong’ body is harmful. Biological sex is real and must be protected.'"

"Wow. What Government or Opposition politician in Ireland would have the courage to say any of that? It’s the same on immigration, where both sides are terrified to state the bleedin’ obvious: immigration is grand but too much immigration is a serious problem and will cause unrest, especially in a country with a decade-long housing crisis. When you’re so full you’re handing out tents and blankets, you’ve reached capacity."

"I was heartened to see liberal intellectual Stephen Fry rip into the harms of political correctness in an international debate this week titled 'What you call political correctness, I call progress.' Fry said: 'My problem with political correctness, apart from the fact it’s po-faced, sanctimonious and self-righteous, is that it’s not effective. The two sides of the cultural war are no longer left and right, they’re something deeper, weirder and odder. Each is standing on its own edge yelling at the other and neither is hearing. They’re just making frantic faces at each other.'"

"It’s not just not effective – it’s counter-productive. The more you point out differences, the more segregated society becomes. Since 2017, it has led us to backslide on progress, after years of forward momentum on key issues. It has caused new problems and inflamed tensions. It has hurt us all in the end."