Archive for the 'economy' Category
What to Do With Philly’s Vacant Land: An Idea
In the process of evaluating Mayor Street’s NTI legacy, the Nutter administration uncovered causes for concern.
In late May Nutter froze acquisition of new property through NTI. The city now holds large tracts of vacant land in many neighborhoods. Nobody’s quite sure of the land’s value, and it’s suspected there’s a $30 to $40 million shortfall [...]
When Do I get My Bailout
I always thought “personal responsibility” was a platform of the modern conservative Republican party, along with “let the market sort things out”.
Turns out that’s true only if you’re not a massive corporation, since Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are joining Bear Stearns for another taxpayer-funded bailout. What’s that line about private profits, public risk?
the [...]
The Big Difference: Specter v. Casey
UPDATED BELOW
As regular readers are surely aware, I have a fairly consistent and contentious relationship with my two senators Arlen Specter and Bob Casey, thanks to my nearly daily calls to their offices to complain about this, that, or the other thing. Sometimes I place these calls simply to be an asshole: when my [...]
Read More..>>Weak Position
Invading Iraq was supposed to give us cheaper gas and greater energy. It was supposed to enhance our strength in the Middle East.
That must explain why, for the second time in a row, the President has gone begging to the Saudis for more oil, and for the second time in a row, has been [...]
First Rule: Stop Digging
Ok, I’ll admit I’ve been on a tear about this fake economic stimulus package now for three days. I can’t help it: it’s a waste of time and money that won’t work. For example, after announcing the fact that we’re all getting free money every day since January, the IRS decided it would be a [...]
Read More..>>Stimulus in a Nutshell
Imagine an abusive husband, constantly beating the daylights out of his wife.
Imagine that same husband realizing that one beating has gone a little bit too far, and he has to make it up to his wife.
So he gets a check (from their joint checking account), gives her semi-conscious body a poke with his [...]
Long Emergency
In comments to Ghost Towns, Alex writes:
To most Americans, large cities are for cultural and sporting events.
Some of them may live in one for a few years after graduation, then
they’re planning to spawn in the burbs.
They’ll go bankrupt before they move into the cities.
He’s probably right: the comment reminded of something Kunstler wrote [...]
Ghost Towns
This piece on the housing crisis, via Daily Kos is really interesting:
Recent studies suggest that buyers underestimated the costs of their long commutes. Those expenses can add up to more than the buyers saved on the home. Developers also miscalculated, lured by cheap land and rising home prices. They overreached, “partly [...]
Fuel Prices Fucking Families
Tell me about it…
Gas prices have gone up steadily in the last few days, jumping from an average of $3.42 Saturday to $3.44 yesterday in Philadelphia, and from $3.26 to $3.29 in South Jersey.
With gas prices jumping an average of 16 cents in two weeks nationally, they are as high as they were during the [...]
Worried? Who’s Worried?
Generation X glum on retirement prospects: survey:
More than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working, according to a survey published jointly on Monday by Scottrade and BetterInvesting.
In contrast, 64 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry, even though [...]
