Economics

Letter From Asia's Co-Prosperity Sphere

Hong Kong Currency-iStock_000002271855XSmall.jpg

To visit banks in Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, I recently flew into Shanghai and out from Singapore. In two weeks, I rode a lot of trains and met a lot of bankers. When I got home to Europe, it felt like I had traversed a Greater Economic Co-Prosperity Sphere, although I was never sure if it was one that belonged to China, Japan, or the international banking system. Here's a highly personal, thumbnail report on the region's development and some of the local rail network:  read more »

Why The Left Is Questioning Its Hero

iStock_000006872173XSmall.jpg

Much has been made by the national media and the markets about the emergence from our desiccated economic soil of what President Obama has called "green shoots." But although the economy may already be slowly regenerating (largely due to its natural resiliency), we need to question whether these fledglings will grow into healthy plants or a crop of crabgrass.

The political right has made many negative assessments of the president's approach, decrying the administration's huge jump in deficit spending and penchant for ever more expansive regulatory control of the economy. Polling data by both The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal shows some growing unease about both the expanding federal role in the economy and the growing mountain of debt.  read more »

GM, Business, and The Age of Small

ship and sailboat iStock_000002231865XSmall.jpg

At its peak, General Motors employed 350,000 people and operated 150 assembly plants. It defined “big business” for America and the world.

But GM was not always big. It grew through the acquisitions that it made in the early decades of the twentieth century. In those days, the automotive industry was populated by entrepreneurial small businesses led by people like Ransom Olds and Henry Ford. There were more than 200 automobile companies in the United States in 1920. By 1940, only 17 had survived.  read more »

The Geography of Class in Greater Seattle

morrillclassmap-crop.png

Most readers may not be initially very interested in the detailed geography of “class” in Seattle, but it actually matters not only for our area but for the whole debate over the shape of the urban future. Academics, perhaps Americans in general, are loath to admit to class differences, yet they remain very crucial to the understanding of how cities and regions evolve.

Seattle is a great example of the transformation of a 20th century model of the American metropolis to a 21st century-cum-19th century “old World” model of metropolis. It is often held up as one of the role models for other cities, so its experiences should be considered seriously not only for American cities but for regions throughout the advanced world.  read more »

Europe: No Longer A Role Model For America

iStock_000001654475XSmall.jpg

For decades many in the American political and policy establishment--including close supporters of President Obama--have looked enviously at the bureaucratic powerhouse of the European Union. In everything from climate change to civil liberties to land use regulation, Europe long has charmed those visionaries, particularly on the left, who wish to remake America in its image.  read more »

Kauai, Hawaii: Local Merchants Make Waves

Hawiian Wave iStock_000009421831XSmall.jpg

Many have by now heard or read the story of the plucky group of Hawaiians on the island of Kauai who, when faced with the loss of their businesses due to the state government’s inability to open park roads to a popular beach and camping area, took care of it themselves for a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time. How very Tocquevellian. Or, better, how very American.  read more »

Farmland Prices: The Cost of Growing A Suburb

subdivision construction, Minnesota iStock_000000167877XSmall.jpg

Summer in Minnesota – land of 10,000 lakes — is, for many families, about boating, with the Harley the preferred mode of ground transportation. In winter, snow mobiles are popular. Hunting and fishing replace the corner coffee shops as hangouts. Three car garages are considered a minimum – four even better!

So how did it come to pass that out-of-control land prices would destroy the economics of housing in this small-town region? And why was the pattern repeated in markets like Las Vegas and Phoenix?  read more »

A New Story for Timeshare

iStock_000002655564XSmall.jpg

By Richard Reep

More employment sectors are increasingly migratory and less fixated on a particular place. Many of us are instead working from home, or from places where we prefer – it might be a coffeeshop, or it might be a vacation condo. Housing’s rigid systems belong to the Old Economy.  read more »

State of the Economy June 2009

iStock_000008650446XSmall.jpg

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman was quoted widely for saying that the official recession will end this summer. Before you get overly excited, keep in mind that the recession he’s calling the end of started officially in December 2007. Now ask yourself this: when did you notice that the economy was in recession? Six months after it started? One year?  read more »

Rewriting The Oil Stock Story

oil rig with graph iStock_000002669448XSmall.jpg

Could oil price manipulation have created the rerun of the Great Depression that we are currently enduring?

Think about it. The doubling of gas prices had a profound effect on disposable income and the affordability of housing, whose subsequent downturn set the stage for economic collapse.

We now know that Wall Street speculation drove oil from $69 a barrel to nearly $150. But this article purports to explain why.  read more »