Some important people on the Right, starting with the maverick Ron Unz but apparently including such as Phyllis Schlafly and Bill O’Reilly, have come out in favor of a higher minimum wage, such as $12 per hour. The argument against […]
Economics
Why The Dream Declined
The best single post on the decline of affordable housing that I have seen on one of my favorite sites, newgeography.com, is this by Roger Selbert. He most succinctly explains the reasons why the American dream of subsidized home ownership [discussed […]
Raise Everyone’s Taxes, Including Mine
A number of millionaires are fine with their taxes being raised. I myself could live with slightly higher taxes, though I don’t like the idea of going higher than the Clinton era levels on federal taxes. The Clinton-Gingrich era was […]
Washington D.C.: The Center of the Universe: And Who to blame?
Joel Kotkin on Newgeography.com writes about the nearly recession-proof nature of Washington, D. C. and its metro area. It is a city of government and the mandarin classes, and they never go out of style. But it seems to me that […]
Agriculture in the ‘burbs and exurbs’
Looks like the plummeting housing market has given a new lease of life to agriculture in the ‘burbs and exurbs.’ Related: “U.S. Farmers Reclaim Land From Developers,” by Robbie Whelan at The Wall Street Journal
We’re The Trustfunders!
Actually, Forbes is as prejudiced as Occupy. You can’t generalize about us one percenters. Some have indeed provided excellent products and services, or done good philanthropic work. Some have made money without doing much really productive for society, like hedgefunders. […]
Obama’s Dilemma, High Speed Rail, the Civilian Conservation Corps, and Other Miscellaneous Observations
Joel Kotkin, director of one of our favorite sites, Newgeography.com, has exposed how Obama has alienated people on all sides, even though he will probably win the election. I notice, now that I think about it, that while the Occupy […]
On the Whole Postmodern in Law and Economics Thing
Victor Davis Hanson, in this attached essay, claims that President Obama has a postmodern vision of law. I am not necessarily going to argue that point. I have maintained, already, that President Obama has what I call an allergy to […]
How to do Deficit Spending or The Trouble with Keynesianism
The prescriptions of John Maynard Keynes have been controversial since his time: the idea of deficit spending for “priming the pump,” the idea of the “paradox of thrift,” and others that seemed to go contrary to traditional financial virtues. Many […]
Why Non-Suburbanites Distrust Suburbanites
I’ve had the great Arcade Fire album, The Suburbs, on in my car recently, and have been inspired by it to a few thoughts. Most people, especially people with children, aspire to a real house and not a condominium or an […]