Archive for the ‘ Economic Development ’ Category
Leo Panitch and Sam Gindin of York University (CA) have a very interesting and (necessarily) long article tracing the hundred year history of the current financial crisis. It was this long chain of events that led to the massive funding of mortgages, the hedging and default derivatives based on this, the rating agencies AAA rating of [ READ MORE ]
Another conference note. David Harvey advocated in his opening talk that the $700b bailout go not to the banks and financial institutions but to municipalities. The idea is to get the money to the foundation of the crisis, which he seems to suggest lies not in financial institutions’ liquidity issues but in the inability to [ READ MORE ]
I haven’t read it, but here is a quick summary of the impacts of the Olympics on their host cities over the years. Curmudgeonly contrarians may claim that the Olympics is not about sports, it’s about politics. But we know better: The Olympics has always been about improving the appeal of the host city. You let [ READ MORE ]
Simon Jenkins asks where the economists who took credit for the rising market are now that it is declining. [Update] It just crossed my mind that the economists might simply adopt the Washington Concensus position of the World Bank that Joe Stiglitz likes to emphasize: “They didn’t go far enough.” Basically, the fault is not in [ READ MORE ]
Harvard Magazine has a relatively informative article on inequality in the U.S. Here are a few summary highlights: The United States is becoming even more unequal as income becomes more concentrated among the most affluent Americans. Income inequality has been rising since the late 1970s, and now rests at a level not seen since the Gilded [ READ MORE ]
Just came across this website, The Eminent Domain, a product of the Pratt Center for Community Development. [ READ MORE ]
Now that I’ve seen JS’s backyard garden in Brooklyn and hear of plans for another JS’s Bronx garden plans, I’ve been turned on to the potential of urban agriculture. The NYTimes has an article on a profit-making one acre garden in North Philly to further whet that appetite. Of course, their profits are a pretty [ READ MORE ]
The NYTimes has a short article on the tension job uncertainty is generating as Wall Street banks slowly proceed with ’stealth’ layoffs. It’s both hard and easy to be sympathetic…and for the same reason. Wall Street workers are now coming face-to-face with the daily conditions of people at the bottom of the ladder: today you [ READ MORE ]
NYTimes reports on the emergence of an eye care technology cluster in Orange County, CA. Apparently it can be traced back to one man. (sorta) [ READ MORE ]
In keeping with the previous post (two in one day!), I also see that yet again the large, complex Hudson Yards development has fallen through. This follows the collapse of the Penn Station project and the massive slowdown at Atlantic Yards. Certainly, this has much to do with the declining economy, but I wonder how [ READ MORE ]
The Washington Post has an article reporting that states are finally reducing prison sentences. The problem is the primary drive is fiscal constraint, not a change in approach. These programs are unlikely to be accompanied by increased funds for social programs that assist reintegration and reduce offenses. And here, I think, is the worst thing [ READ MORE ]
It seems the Onion is on an urban planning jag these days. DB sends in this link to an article decrying the aristocratization of gentrified neighborhoods. [T]he enormous treasure-based wealth of the aristocracy makes it impossible for those living on modest trust funds to hold onto their co-ops and converted factory loft spaces. [ READ MORE ]
NYTimes has an article today on coworking. Rather than work at home alone, individuals rent a desk in a shared office. The idea is that it is psychologically more satisfying, that people are often more effective than when working at home alone, and that an environment for intellectual cross-fertilization is created. [ READ MORE ]
Some time ago I linked to a NYTimes article on a city in Texas that had only businesses for residents, preying on surrounding communities’ corporate tax base by providing all sorts of incentives. I’m reading a chapter from Ecology of Fear by Mike Davis for my upcoming class, and he mentions the City of Industry [ READ MORE ]
The NYTimes reports that, due to the lack of a national tourism promotion board, more US cities have stepped up to advertise their own cities to European tourists. Hassles associated with tighter security since 9/11 is blamed for the general drop in visitors. [ READ MORE ]