The next Federal Reserve Chairman will be able to celebrate his or her victory for only a brief moment before jumping into solving the economy’s problems. Instead, the next chairman faces an overwhelming possibility that the new normal for the economy will be worse than advertised. Per Bloomberg Businessweek:

The “U.S. future isn’t what it used to be,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan in New York. Declining productivity gains and a slower expansion of the labor force “should limit the U.S. average growth pace” in the long run.

Judging by the article, today's news that new home sales are down dramatically may predict the beginning of some bad economic events on the horizon.