Since we don’t know what the true numbers are, it’s hard to draw any inferences for certain, but it would appear that only two-thirds of the total is made up of residential construction, and actually the construction of single family homes is up a little bit.

Although it might be a bad sign that single family home construction is up, since the measurement is square meters rather than number of units. This might only mean that fewer larger houses are being built, when the country needs more smaller houses.

The biggest losers are condominiums, offices, and “other” (resorts?). However, we hear that the banks are overextended on their commercial mortgages, so we would hope to God that they cut back on these frivolous ventures.

We also know that as a rule construction spending isn’t a great sign of economic vibrancy, since that spending tends to be a one shot deal. The more important question is whether anyone continues to make any money out of the stuff that is built, and just building it is no guarantee.

Meanwhile, we once again read misleading whining about the VAT. Yes, if your construction company consists only of you, a tape measure, and a cell phone, then you may well pay the VAT, since you are subcontracting out all your labor. However, if your construction company already has things like, duh, employees, no you won’t pay the VAT on them. Plus, the VAT on materials will only inch up 2% after a couple years–not exactly a kick in the teeth.

And oh yeah, 40% of the population will even get a rebate on the VAT, though I guess this doesn’t apply to the construction industry. I doubt these folks are among the 40% low income entitled to the rebate or are building houses for the 40% entitled to it.

I understand that these guys don’t want to lose any money as a result of a fiscal reform plan, but in this attitude they’re just like everybody else looking out for their self-interest. If they want my sympathy, they need to start offering a fuller picture of what’s really going on and likely to go on in their industry, as well as use numbers that make sense.