The land bank concept, which will be unveiled today by Mayor Sheila Dixon's administration, would eliminate red tape faced when a city-owned property is put up for sale - such as the requirement for an appraisal - to speed a process that some say can hamper redevelopment.

The city owns about 10,000 vacant properties, many seized as part of then-Mayor Martin O'Malley's Project 5000 effort.

In a Bloomberg survey published today, economists predict the nation will not slip into a recession but will feel a greater economic drag from the housing market:

Sales of furniture, appliances and building materials will slow as plunging home sales and falling property values erode consumer confidence, economists said. The Federal Reserve will follow last month's interest rate cut with a quarter-point reduction before the end of December, the survey shows.

And I report today on federal largesse in Maryland, which gets billions from Uncle Sam -- a large chunk to contractors located here. Richard P. Clinch with the University of Baltimore warns that what goes up can come down. He uses the recession of the early '90s as an example:

Because of a cutback in defense spending, the state got hit harder than most, with the impact rippling to companies such as home builders, Clinch said.