Recent history (the last 40 years, and more specifically, the last decade or so) should have given "free markets", "capitalism" and "running it like a business" a cumulative black eye. From increased market volatility, to insecure retirement, to rising health care costs, and stagnating wages, running everything like a business and allowing blind faith in the "free" market has been a spectacular failure for 99.9% of the population.
But, leave it to Republicans to beat and ride that dead horse into the ground.
Just recently in the Journal Sentinel, Dan Steininger (of BizStarts Milwaukee, Wisconsin Early-Stage Fund and Successful Entrepreneurs LLC), in an effort to laud the supposedly impressive economic power of research parks, claimed that, at the end of the day, we should all push for more public dollars being used for more private speculation because it is an "inherently capitalistic approach."
Research parks are claimed to "kick-start" economies and create jobs "that attract new companies to the region."
Steininger exclaims, "The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Innovation Park is now under construction in Wauwatosa. Its goal is to become the largest driver of economic development for southeastern Wisconsin in the 21st-century, knowledge-based economy."
Investment in research and development (R&D) is great. Increased educational spending, also, great stuff, in the general sense of things.
Although ... The "largest driver of economic development"?
I'm just saying there should be some perspective to counter the overblown rhetoric. There are many worthwhile endeavors and programs, which are important to a majority of citizens.
Government spending is wasteful when it goes to the poor, to teachers, or to public transportation. But there's never enough money for stadiums, research parks, and other private-interest pet projects. The projects that generally benefit a select few at the expense of many.
Small cabals of "entrepreneurs" are the ones who told us to run things like a business, cut taxes, and pump more money into private investment schemes. Yet, nothing has trickled down. Wages are down, health care costs are up, and retirement is increasingly unstable and/or out of reach. I don't know about you, but to me, that's not economic growth nor job creation.
For Further Reading:
The False Promise Of The Entrepreneurial University
Research Parks
Research, Science & Technology Parks: Global Best Practices
Technology In The Garden: Research Parks & Regional Economic Development
University Related Science Parks
UWM As Economic Engine? Dream On
Saturday, April 21, 2012
Weekend Reading
Do Small Businesses Create Jobs?
Fiscal Therapy
Fix Income Inequality With $10 Million Loans For Everyone!
Romneys Were Able To Give Sons $100 Million Tax Free
Social Security in U.S. Less Generous Than Other Countries
The Rich Are Different Than You & Me...They Pay Lower Taxes
Why Do Half Of All Americans Pay No Federal Income Taxes?
Why You Should Care That 70% Of Antibiotics Go Into Animal Feed
Will The Exurbs Ever Make A Comeback?
Fiscal Therapy
Fix Income Inequality With $10 Million Loans For Everyone!
Romneys Were Able To Give Sons $100 Million Tax Free
Social Security in U.S. Less Generous Than Other Countries
The Rich Are Different Than You & Me...They Pay Lower Taxes
Why Do Half Of All Americans Pay No Federal Income Taxes?
Why You Should Care That 70% Of Antibiotics Go Into Animal Feed
Will The Exurbs Ever Make A Comeback?
Monday, April 16, 2012
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Never Worked A Day In Her Life
"I think the one thing we can be sure of is that she lived in households that were wealthy enough to afford domestic help both as a child and as an adult, which is not the type of lifestyle most typical Americans have experienced, and the point that ought to be driven home if Mitt Romney wants to continue to hold his wife out there as some representative of average American women and their concerns," as Heather over at Crooks and Liars states.
As Think Progress elaborates, "Romney and allies cried that Democrats had declared “war on moms” after a Democratic strategist said Romney’s wife hadn’t worked a day in her life. Romney’s camp said this meant Democrats don’t value stay at home moms and motherhood, while they believe that women who stay home are doing real work. But for every Romney action, there is an equal and opposite Romney reaction, and this morning, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes dug up a video of Romney from just January in which the Republican presidential candidate said he wanted to require women who receive welfare to work outside the home, even if their children are very young. But this is worse than hypocritical because there is a clear difference here — women who receive welfare benefits, the ones Romney wants to force to work, are poor, while Romney’s wife is very wealthy. And this exactly the point CNN contributor Hillary Rosen was trying to make, inartfully, when she sparked this controversy. Ann Romney had the luxury of choosing to devote herself full time to raising her children. It’s hard work, no doubt, but millions of mothers are forced to work and raise their kids at the same time, as Romney says he wants to require poor women on government benefits to do."
As Think Progress elaborates, "Romney and allies cried that Democrats had declared “war on moms” after a Democratic strategist said Romney’s wife hadn’t worked a day in her life. Romney’s camp said this meant Democrats don’t value stay at home moms and motherhood, while they believe that women who stay home are doing real work. But for every Romney action, there is an equal and opposite Romney reaction, and this morning, MSNBC’s Chris Hayes dug up a video of Romney from just January in which the Republican presidential candidate said he wanted to require women who receive welfare to work outside the home, even if their children are very young. But this is worse than hypocritical because there is a clear difference here — women who receive welfare benefits, the ones Romney wants to force to work, are poor, while Romney’s wife is very wealthy. And this exactly the point CNN contributor Hillary Rosen was trying to make, inartfully, when she sparked this controversy. Ann Romney had the luxury of choosing to devote herself full time to raising her children. It’s hard work, no doubt, but millions of mothers are forced to work and raise their kids at the same time, as Romney says he wants to require poor women on government benefits to do."
Monday, April 9, 2012
Milwaukee's Best...
Fine Dining:
Crazy Water
Hinterland
Jackson Grill
La Merenda
Lake Park Bistro
Pastiche
Roots
Sanford
Honorable Mention:
Bacchus
Braise
Honeypie
Meritage
Crazy Water
Hinterland
Jackson Grill
La Merenda
Lake Park Bistro
Pastiche
Roots
Sanford
Honorable Mention:
Bacchus
Braise
Honeypie
Meritage
Don't Trust A Republican Waxing Philosophical About Democracy
It's awfully sad that the Journal Sentinel has sunk so low they need to publish hacks, like Christian Schneider of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute, and claim they're furthering debate, clarifying the issues, or even practicing journalism.
Yes, those darned "union sympathizers" have mucked up our sparkling democracy. Never before, claims Schneider, have things gotten so messy.
Rather strange that the party (Republicans) which prefers shouting and heckling at town hall meetings, mudslinging instead of debate, and sabotaging elections (tearing up recall petitions, running Republicans as Democrats in democratic primaries, creating the phony voter fraud issue, etc.) is suddenly up in arms over the sanctity of the process.
Mr. Schneider wants us to know, "The current use of the recall is far different from what the original drafters had envisioned ... In Wisconsin's history, only two state elected officials had been successfully recalled before 2011. Nationally, only two governors have ever been recalled from office. Yet in 2012, Wisconsin will be seeing its 15th recall election in the span of one year."
He forgets the numerous uprisings in our history where vast numbers marched and rallied, and forced politicians to do as the majority of citizens wanted.
Now we're actually going through the drudgery of the whole recall process. That seems sophisticated considering what once was.
As Schneider points out, "At the time the recall amendment was adopted [1926], supporters believed the threat of recall would keep elected officials representative of the people. As the argument went, officials would be more responsive to the public than to special interests if their constituents could pull them out of office for corruption. Numerous progressives argued that recalls would aid in keeping the influence of money out of politics."
He then, with keen misdirection, claims the recall efforts are at fault for the flood of money in our electoral process. Seemingly oblivious to the recent Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. You know, the decision that made corporations people and ruled it's OK to funnel limitless money to a Super PAC to fund campaigns without transparency.
Schneider then, astoundingly, cackles "The modern recall is being used in a way that its original supporters never expected or likely would have endorsed. As recall supporter and progressive leader Robert M. La Follette Sr. once said, "the supreme issue involving all others is the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many." The modern use of the recall demonstrates that to be true."
Over 41 percent of the number of people who voted (2,158,723) during the last gubernatorial election signed recall petitions (900,938). Hardly just a "powerful few." But I guess that's part of the civilized Republican response to this messiness - blame it on the "thug" "union sympathizers" and pretend it's some small-numbered fringe interest group.
Nevertheless, all of the smoke and mirrors used by Schneider and the WPRI can't hide the truth - Scott Walker is being recalled because the policies he has pursued since being elected do not match up to those which he campaigned on, nor are they the policies many citizens want. Concealed carry, ending the Equal Pay Act, ending collective bargaining ... if Walker's radical agenda was made clear during his initial gubernatorial run, he never would have been elected.
Yes, those darned "union sympathizers" have mucked up our sparkling democracy. Never before, claims Schneider, have things gotten so messy.
Rather strange that the party (Republicans) which prefers shouting and heckling at town hall meetings, mudslinging instead of debate, and sabotaging elections (tearing up recall petitions, running Republicans as Democrats in democratic primaries, creating the phony voter fraud issue, etc.) is suddenly up in arms over the sanctity of the process.
Mr. Schneider wants us to know, "The current use of the recall is far different from what the original drafters had envisioned ... In Wisconsin's history, only two state elected officials had been successfully recalled before 2011. Nationally, only two governors have ever been recalled from office. Yet in 2012, Wisconsin will be seeing its 15th recall election in the span of one year."
He forgets the numerous uprisings in our history where vast numbers marched and rallied, and forced politicians to do as the majority of citizens wanted.
Now we're actually going through the drudgery of the whole recall process. That seems sophisticated considering what once was.
As Schneider points out, "At the time the recall amendment was adopted [1926], supporters believed the threat of recall would keep elected officials representative of the people. As the argument went, officials would be more responsive to the public than to special interests if their constituents could pull them out of office for corruption. Numerous progressives argued that recalls would aid in keeping the influence of money out of politics."
He then, with keen misdirection, claims the recall efforts are at fault for the flood of money in our electoral process. Seemingly oblivious to the recent Citizens United decision by the Supreme Court. You know, the decision that made corporations people and ruled it's OK to funnel limitless money to a Super PAC to fund campaigns without transparency.
Schneider then, astoundingly, cackles "The modern recall is being used in a way that its original supporters never expected or likely would have endorsed. As recall supporter and progressive leader Robert M. La Follette Sr. once said, "the supreme issue involving all others is the encroachment of the powerful few upon the rights of the many." The modern use of the recall demonstrates that to be true."
Over 41 percent of the number of people who voted (2,158,723) during the last gubernatorial election signed recall petitions (900,938). Hardly just a "powerful few." But I guess that's part of the civilized Republican response to this messiness - blame it on the "thug" "union sympathizers" and pretend it's some small-numbered fringe interest group.
Nevertheless, all of the smoke and mirrors used by Schneider and the WPRI can't hide the truth - Scott Walker is being recalled because the policies he has pursued since being elected do not match up to those which he campaigned on, nor are they the policies many citizens want. Concealed carry, ending the Equal Pay Act, ending collective bargaining ... if Walker's radical agenda was made clear during his initial gubernatorial run, he never would have been elected.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Historic Milwaukee Architecture
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society
The website Milwaukee Architecture explains, "Said to be Frank Lloyd Wright's only important residential project in Milwaukee (Zimmermann) this house embodies Wright's prairie style elements into a somewhat heavy massive look. At the time he was working on the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo as well. The buff brick is combined with cast concrete and leaded glass. Wright was also producing a line of pre-fab houses at the same time."
Praire School Traveler states, "A distinctive brick residence with five bedrooms, stylistically related to the German Warehouse, both of which incorporate cast concrete ornament and presage Wright’s California works such as the Barnsdall (“Hollyhock”) House."
Mary Ann Sullivan informs, "This house has some of the characteristic features of the Prairie style--horizontality, a low-pitched roof with wide eaves, and rows of leaded-glass windows. Like many of Wright's houses, this residence does not have an entrance in the front facade; the main entrance is from the driveway on the north side."
As the National Park Service details, "This house was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and executed under his supervision. It was built in 1916-1917, in the so-called Japanese years of Wright's career. The building has been designated a Milwaukee landmark ... The wall material is a tan tapestry brick and trimmed with precast concrete. The brickwork has wide, raked horizontal mortar joints and tinted and filled vertical joints. The building presents typical Wright details in the strong horizontal lines, geometric patterns, deep-set windows, and wide overhanging eaves. The lintels, sills, and capstones are precast concrete. The wooden windows and trim are painted a "Wright red."
For Further Reading:
North Point North
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Scott Walker Ramps Up Extremism
Scott Walker Ramps Up Extremism
By Kenneth Quinnell
In advance of his upcoming recall election and possible legal trouble, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has become even more extreme, ramping up the rhetoric and taking actions that are troubling, to say the least. Most importantly, he signed a repeal of the state's Equal Pay Enforcement Act:
By Kenneth Quinnell
In advance of his upcoming recall election and possible legal trouble, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has become even more extreme, ramping up the rhetoric and taking actions that are troubling, to say the least. Most importantly, he signed a repeal of the state's Equal Pay Enforcement Act:
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, who is facing a recall election, quietly repealed a state law making it easier for pay discrimination victims to seek justice. Amanda Terkel reports in The Huffington Post that Walker signed into law a bill passed in party-line votes by Republicans in the state legislature that rolls back the 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act. The act had allowed workers to challenge pay discrimination in state rather than just federal courts.
The act was only one part of Walker's assault on women:
Among them were four highly controversial measures focused on women's health care and sexual education:
A repeal of the state's Equal Pay law, which allowed victim's of wage discrimination to collect damages of between $50,000 and $300,000, and a repeal of the Healthy Youth Act, which had provided requirements to schools that comprehensive and scientifically accurate information about everything from abstinence to contraception be taught at an age-appropriate level.
Walker also signed into law a ban on abortion coverage through policies as part of a health insurance exchange to be created under the federal health care reform law starting in 2014 (the only exceptions would be in cases of rape, incest or medical necessity); and a bill requiring women seeking abortions to undergo a physical exam and consult with a doctor alone, away from her friends and family, in order to make sure she isn't "being pressured into the decision." Doctors who break the law could be charged with a felony.
I know that collective bargaining is not a right; it's an expensive entitlement. It's about time somebody stood up for the hardworking taxpayers of our state.
The problem is, of course, that collective bargaining is a right.
Walker has also been railing about how state workers can't be the "haves" while everyone else is a "have not." The state worker he used in an ad to that effect, it turns out is actually one of the have-nots, making only $25,227 a year, certainly not a massive salary by any standards.
Weekend Reading
Americans Brace For Next Wave Of Foreclosures
Bankruptcy Costs & America's Household Debt Crisis
The 401(K): American Not Prepared To Manage Their Own Retirement
Housing Scorecard Points To Stability In Market
The Impossibility Of Defense Cuts
MIT Predicting Global Economic Collapse By 2030
More Public Pension Scare Stories At The Post
U.S. Labor Market Increasingly Low-Wage Driven
Where America Needs Doctors
Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go?
Will Foreclosures Drive Home Prices Lower?
Why A Housing Recovery Could Happen Sooner Than You Think
Bankruptcy Costs & America's Household Debt Crisis
The 401(K): American Not Prepared To Manage Their Own Retirement
Housing Scorecard Points To Stability In Market
The Impossibility Of Defense Cuts
MIT Predicting Global Economic Collapse By 2030
More Public Pension Scare Stories At The Post
U.S. Labor Market Increasingly Low-Wage Driven
Where America Needs Doctors
Where Do Our State Tax Dollars Go?
Will Foreclosures Drive Home Prices Lower?
Why A Housing Recovery Could Happen Sooner Than You Think
Friday, April 6, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Taxes
Hot off the press, the latest research from Citizens For Tax Justice:
The U.S Has A Low Corporate Tax
The U.S Has A Low Corporate Tax
Using Purchasing Power To Support Good Jobs
Welcome To The Union Shop!
"When we polled our online activists last year, we found out that Americans are eager to show their support for workers by purchasing union-made products and services. But 82 percent of the people we polled also said that buying union is easier said than done—simply because they don’t know which products make the cut.
So we decided it was time to provide consumers withsimple tools for using their purchasing power in support of good, American jobs. Every week we’ll feature a new post profiling a union-made product or service to keep conscientious consumers like you in the know."
Products by Category:
"When we polled our online activists last year, we found out that Americans are eager to show their support for workers by purchasing union-made products and services. But 82 percent of the people we polled also said that buying union is easier said than done—simply because they don’t know which products make the cut.
So we decided it was time to provide consumers withsimple tools for using their purchasing power in support of good, American jobs. Every week we’ll feature a new post profiling a union-made product or service to keep conscientious consumers like you in the know."
Products by Category:
- Apparel
- Automotive (check back soon)
- Books & Games
- Cleaning (check back soon)
- Food & Beverage
- Gifts & Seasonal
- Home Improvement & Appliances
- Hotels & Hospitality (check back soon)
- Kitchen & Bath
- Sports & Recreation
- Stores
- Sweets & Snacks
- Travel & Tourism
- Miscellaneous (check back soon)
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Overblown Bradley Center Impacts
The Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce (MMAC) has released their Bradley Center economic impact study. They were planning to show a large economic impact due to the Bradley Center. Lo and behold, that's what they manufactured found.
I've been writing about Bradley Center subsidization and it's overblown economic impacts since 2009.
The usual story-line is being presented. Many of the same characters and boosters of the Miller Park swindle are involved in securing public money to build a new private basketball stadium. Many of the same mantras and "benefits" are blathered about and claimed whether the project is a stadium, a convention center, an industrial park, a research park, and a host of other supposed economic "game changers" and "engines."
I've been writing about Bradley Center subsidization and it's overblown economic impacts since 2009.
Even Don Walker, of the Journal Sentinel, wonders how Bradley Center officials and boosters can have it both ways - the arena is uncompetitive and doesn't generate sufficient revenues, yet it is also is a huge economic driver for the region.
Much of the other reporting regarding the Bradley Center report has simply stated the report's numbers and accepted them without any analysis or questions asked. Boosterism marches on. The growth machine lumbers on.
These money losers - stadiums, convention centers, etc. - always have boosters and proponents pushing for the use of public dollars to fund such private playgrounds. In such instances, these normally government-averse, anti-tax crusaders, become big government supporters and partners. Suddenly government spending is a good thing that will create jobs and be an economic catalyst for the region. Or so the well-worn story goes. In the majority of cases, the reality is just the opposite.
From the report:
As the UWM-Center for Economic Development notes in a study of another one of the Milwaukee development community's white elephants (PabstCity), "No venue in Milwaukee draws anything close to 30 percent of its visitors from outside the region. The Calatrava, with all its national and international publicity and iconic status, draws substantially less than 30% of its visitors from outside Milwaukee. Events such as the Wisconsin State Fair and Summerfest draw close to that figure, but these are once a year “special events,” with state-wide and civic participation and sponsorship."
MMAC uses multipliers provided by the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis "to account for the full impact of an economic stimulus. The initial impact (direct) is the output created initially by this stimulus. To the extent that these dollars are re-spent and re-circulated through the local economy, they end up having a multiplied effect. If you account for subsequent rounds of spending, you would reach the total multiplied effect of this stimulus."
Suddenly the lobbying arm of metro Milwaukee commerce believes in Keynesian multipliers? Conservatives, generally, believe for every dollar the government spends, spending elsewhere in the economy falls by the same amount. Thus, government spending negates any multiplier effect in the economy, according to conservatives. I guess when they need a certain outcome (the Bradley Center has a huge economic impact), their economic principles are a bit more flexible. [But, if the multiplier effect is real, what's their excuse against more stimulus to get the economy back near full employment?]
If private organizations want public money - which is the reason the "economic impact" studies are trotted out - maybe they should at the least have to assure that the jobs being subsidized will be living-wage jobs. Sadly, most of these jobs are seasonal, low-wage jobs. Public dollars should not be used to subsidize low-wage, seasonal employment. Yet another reason more "investment" in arenas like the Bradley Center are usually economic losers. And, if these projects were such no-brainers and sure-fire success stories, why would the private sector need a public partner?
From the report:
The gross dollar impact of the Bradley Center on the Metro Milwaukee area totals $204.5 million, with 2,350 jobs supported, generating $73.1 million in annual payroll. The MMAC estimates the yearly direct revenue generated by the Bradley Center at $95.8 million.
Many of these direct dollars spent as part of Bradley Center events are re-spent in the local economy supporting more localized economic activities (indirect impacts) and producing an even greater total impact on the metro region – the so called multiplier effect.
Through a review of Bradley Center ticket sales, the MMAC estimates that approximately 70% of its attendees are local in origin (from the metro area). Conversely, 30% are estimated to come from outside the four-county metro Milwaukee area and with it new spending into the metro area. This gives an approximate estimate of base economic activity generated by the Bradley Center’s presence, or net new dollars pulled into the metro area.
The MMAC estimates annual new spending generated directly by the Bradley Center by non-local sources at $41.6 million. For the metro area analysis, a 70% local – 30% non-local split was used in evaluating net new output resulting from Bradley Center activity. However, for Milwaukee County, a review of ticket sales figures suggest that a 50% local (from Milwaukee County) – 50% non-local split is more appropriate. Because of this split, a larger share of the direct money spent is new to Milwaukee County.
The bottom line impact for Milwaukee County is a gross economic output measure of $180.3 million, including both direct and indirect impacts. More critically, net new impacts or new money brought into Milwaukee County totaled $106 million (direct and indirect), with a job impact of 1,063, payroll of $29.5 million and new state and local tax revenue of $10.8 million.
The economic attractiveness of a metro area is in part determined by the variety of choices that residents have in the region in which they live. Among the 50 largest metro areas in the U.S., metro Milwaukee ranks No. 1 in major league seat availability per-capita. In addition, metro Milwaukee ranks fifth highest in the number of performing arts companies per-capita among 21 benchmark metro areas. The opportunity to choose among a variety of activities has value, not only economic development value but real dollar value. While it is beyond the scope of this white paper, there is a tangible value afforded in having the choice of going to a Milwaukee Bucks game or a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performance vs. a movie at the local theater. A significant group of residents will choose major league entertainment over other options, everything else equal; thus, there is value to that choice.
Let's start with the assumptions - 50 percent of attendees at events at the Bradley Center are non-locals (from outside Milwaukee County). The actual impact of any entity is it's ability to draw in customers who would not have otherwise been spending money in the area. People coming in from Madison or up from Chicago doesn't quite qualify. If they would have spent money at home, but instead spend it at a Bucks game, there is no growth for the region. There is merely a realignment of spending. Which is why the majority of sport stadiums are economic losers - the majority of people that attend events are from the city or the region. When this is the case, growth does not occur. To qualify 'outside Milwaukee County' as not being local inflates the supposed outside dollar amount coming in - the actual growth and impact is overstated.
As the UWM-Center for Economic Development notes in a study of another one of the Milwaukee development community's white elephants (PabstCity), "No venue in Milwaukee draws anything close to 30 percent of its visitors from outside the region. The Calatrava, with all its national and international publicity and iconic status, draws substantially less than 30% of its visitors from outside Milwaukee. Events such as the Wisconsin State Fair and Summerfest draw close to that figure, but these are once a year “special events,” with state-wide and civic participation and sponsorship."
MMAC uses multipliers provided by the U.S Bureau of Economic Analysis "to account for the full impact of an economic stimulus. The initial impact (direct) is the output created initially by this stimulus. To the extent that these dollars are re-spent and re-circulated through the local economy, they end up having a multiplied effect. If you account for subsequent rounds of spending, you would reach the total multiplied effect of this stimulus."
Suddenly the lobbying arm of metro Milwaukee commerce believes in Keynesian multipliers? Conservatives, generally, believe for every dollar the government spends, spending elsewhere in the economy falls by the same amount. Thus, government spending negates any multiplier effect in the economy, according to conservatives. I guess when they need a certain outcome (the Bradley Center has a huge economic impact), their economic principles are a bit more flexible. [But, if the multiplier effect is real, what's their excuse against more stimulus to get the economy back near full employment?]
The report also notes that entertainment variety, for an area, is attractive to residents. There is an implicit assumption that such arena events are the primary entertainment options for the majority of people. This idea isn't quantified. It is merely stated to be accepted. How many of the attendees at events are repeats? Many sporting events, the theater, or the orchestra are attended by many of the same patrons during the year. To extrapolate that this benefits a majority of citizens, or is even important to the majority of an area's citizens is quite a stretch.
There is a large body of studies (see my previous writings on the subject for examples, linked above) showing stadiums are not economic catalysts. This research, for most cities, has found the same results for decades. Regardless of the conclusions of the 6-page MMAC "study," stadiums do not have a serious economic impact for the majority of cities. To claim the Bradley Center is any different is bogus.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Sunday, March 18, 2012
The Increasingly Poor Decisions Of Scott Walker
Walker Issues Hefty Raises To Top Milwaukee County Aides
County Finances On Brink
Privatization Wastes Taxpayer Dollars
The Walker Jobs Plan: Layoffs
If Only We Could Harness Walker's Hot Air
Journal Sentinel Likes Walker's Package
Scott Walker Failure Files
Walker's Unpaid Tab Grows To More Than $5 Billion
Walker's Refusal Of Federal Stimulus Money
Walker Takes Credit For Job Program He Vetoed
Scott Walker: The Failure
Walker's Bogus Budget
There He Goes Again
If Not For
County Finances On Brink
Privatization Wastes Taxpayer Dollars
The Walker Jobs Plan: Layoffs
If Only We Could Harness Walker's Hot Air
Journal Sentinel Likes Walker's Package
Scott Walker Failure Files
Walker's Unpaid Tab Grows To More Than $5 Billion
Walker's Refusal Of Federal Stimulus Money
Walker Takes Credit For Job Program He Vetoed
Scott Walker: The Failure
Walker's Bogus Budget
There He Goes Again
If Not For
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
Where The Real Money Is Made
From the Democratic Party of Wisconsin: "After months spent decrying public school teachers, nurses and snow plow drivers as the 'haves' as justification for his assault on collective bargaining, Scott Walker on Monday night ridiculously suggested that his $144,423 salary isn’t 'real money.' Speaking at a March 12 forum hosted by right-wing radio host Charlie Sykes, Scott Walker stated that he didn’t want to lose the recall, not because he cares about his job as governor, but because his wife would like him to return to the private sector where he could 'make some real money.'"
So, "real" money is made in the private sector.
But didn't Scott Walker just spend the last year telling all of Wisconsin that the public sector (specifically, unions) was the cause of all our fiscal woes? Didn't he - and the Journal Sentinel, for that matter - harangue the [mythical] lavish benefits, cushy pensions, and excessive hourly pay of public workers? We were told the only way we could balance our budget was to clamp down on the excessive pay of those public sector Rockefellers.
And now Mr. Walker is telling us the "real" money is made in the private sector.
But seriously, I thought public worker pay needed to be shrunk to "bring it in line with the private sector." Now it sounds, though, that the public sector is, in fact, underpaid in comparison to the private sector. Which, as Scott Walker has explained, is where the "real" money is made.
There is no thought, conviction, nor morality behind anything Mr. Walker and his Republican ilk devise.
The Republican Party, of which Scott Walker has become a poster boy, has truly solidified their position as Mayberry Machiavellis. GOP operatives morph their policy positions to fit whoever is willing to fund their campaigns (textbook crony capitalism), whilst simultaneously accusing their opponents of being for whatever Republicans are against.
Yet another Scott Walker reform where the true conservative scheme position is, finally, revealed...and it is nothing like the original line they were selling.
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Gas Prices
"Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand," according to Investopedia.
"What the commodity markets are telling us is that we’re living in a finite world, in which the rapid growth of emerging economies is placing pressure on limited supplies of raw materials, pushing up their prices. And America is, for the most part, just a bystander in this story," explained Paul Krugman.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
If Not For
While the election season heats up, among endless platitudes about 'getting the economy going' and 'job creation,' let's all take a moment to reflect (sadly) on Scott Walker's return of $810 million in federal aid.
Nationally, even though we've seen 23 consecutive months of private sector job growth, Republican politicians and pundits are claiming the economy is performing poorly. In Wisconsin, where we rank poorly in comparison to the other states in job growth during the recovery, Scott Walker is claiming 'job creation' success based on a slightly declining unemployment rate.
Where would Wisconsin be right now had it taken advantage of $810 million in stimulus? Where would the unemployment rate be? Where would the employment population ratio be? What long-term effects would be incubating and growing due to the massive investment in our public transportation? How many businesses, jobs, and residents will Wisconsin miss out on due to this lack of needed investment during a crucial economic time?
An opportunity cost is "the cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action."
Had Wisconsin taken the alternative action of not electing Scott Walker, Wisconsin would have seen a billion more dollars worth of investment during our country's second worst economic downturn. In the current economic climate, this billion-dollar disappearing-act should eliminate any thoughts of Mr. Walker's ability to govern effectively.
Just one [more] alarmingly significant reason for Wisconsinites to vote against Walker whenever the recall occurs.
Nationally, even though we've seen 23 consecutive months of private sector job growth, Republican politicians and pundits are claiming the economy is performing poorly. In Wisconsin, where we rank poorly in comparison to the other states in job growth during the recovery, Scott Walker is claiming 'job creation' success based on a slightly declining unemployment rate.
Where would Wisconsin be right now had it taken advantage of $810 million in stimulus? Where would the unemployment rate be? Where would the employment population ratio be? What long-term effects would be incubating and growing due to the massive investment in our public transportation? How many businesses, jobs, and residents will Wisconsin miss out on due to this lack of needed investment during a crucial economic time?
An opportunity cost is "the cost of an alternative that must be forgone in order to pursue a certain action. Put another way, the benefits you could have received by taking an alternative action."
Had Wisconsin taken the alternative action of not electing Scott Walker, Wisconsin would have seen a billion more dollars worth of investment during our country's second worst economic downturn. In the current economic climate, this billion-dollar disappearing-act should eliminate any thoughts of Mr. Walker's ability to govern effectively.
Just one [more] alarmingly significant reason for Wisconsinites to vote against Walker whenever the recall occurs.
Walker's Job Creation & Population Growth
The employment population ratio measures "the economy's ability to provide jobs for a growing population; its consistent cyclical properties and the relative accuracy of its seasonal adjustment make the ratio especially useful for evaluating demographic employment trends. It answers the question, 'What proportion of the working-age population is employed?'"
In Wisconsin, the ratio for 2011 was 63.5, in 2010 it was 63.6. A .1 percent difference.
The Wisconsin governor draws attention to a declining unemployment rate. Which, in itself, is good. The problem it that the unemployment rate hasn't declined because of the policies of the governor. It has declined in spite of his policies. The unemployment figures of Wisconsin appear better due to slow population growth (16% in Wisconsin versus 24% nationwide, since 1990), more so than any significant job creation.
As the employment population ratio illuminates, job growth has been insignificant in relation to population growth (and population growth was low!). But such unimpressive information isn't good fodder for campaign commercials attempting to convince voters why they should not vote against Walker in a recall election. Regardless of what Governor Walker would like, the employment population ratio illustrates the governor's ineffectiveness at creating jobs.
Or, as Paul Krugman states, "My current favorite measure of the labor market, the employment-population ratio of prime-age Americans — employment rather than unemployment so as to avoid distortion by people dropping out, prime-age to avoid demographic issues as the population ages."
In Wisconsin, the ratio for 2011 was 63.5, in 2010 it was 63.6. A .1 percent difference.
The Wisconsin governor draws attention to a declining unemployment rate. Which, in itself, is good. The problem it that the unemployment rate hasn't declined because of the policies of the governor. It has declined in spite of his policies. The unemployment figures of Wisconsin appear better due to slow population growth (16% in Wisconsin versus 24% nationwide, since 1990), more so than any significant job creation.
As the employment population ratio illuminates, job growth has been insignificant in relation to population growth (and population growth was low!). But such unimpressive information isn't good fodder for campaign commercials attempting to convince voters why they should not vote against Walker in a recall election. Regardless of what Governor Walker would like, the employment population ratio illustrates the governor's ineffectiveness at creating jobs.
As Marc Levine describes, in a recent report, "..The unemployment rate is a less telling measure than it once was. It’s simply no longer the best barometer of the country’s economic health...' Others recommend looking to the 'employment-population' ratio for a 'truer picture' of labor market conditions ... Put simply, the employment-population ratio measures the percentage of the working-age population (or a subset of that population) that is employed. Its particular value as a labor market indicator is that it tells us, much better than the flawed, narrower unemployment rate, the extent to which the working age population in a community or among certain racial or ethnic groups is, in fact, working – which is, in the end, what we really want to know about the health of a labor market."
Or, as Paul Krugman states, "My current favorite measure of the labor market, the employment-population ratio of prime-age Americans — employment rather than unemployment so as to avoid distortion by people dropping out, prime-age to avoid demographic issues as the population ages."
Friday, March 9, 2012
Regarding That Big Fat Idiot
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Weekend Reading
Monday, March 5, 2012
Monday Reading
$207 Million For Suburban Freeway
Congress' Potential Faulty Tax Logic
"Ever Expanding" Government Illustrated (Part III)
Federal Judge Rules Ban Of Project Labor Agreements Unconstitutional
Richest 1% Account For Nearly All Of Recovery's Gains
Tax Code Not Aligned With Basic Principles
The Evolution Of Top Incomes In The U.S.
The History of Milwaukee & It's Government
The Wisconsin Uprising
Video Shows Walker Saying He Will Negotiate With Unions
Congress' Potential Faulty Tax Logic
"Ever Expanding" Government Illustrated (Part III)
Federal Judge Rules Ban Of Project Labor Agreements Unconstitutional
Richest 1% Account For Nearly All Of Recovery's Gains
Tax Code Not Aligned With Basic Principles
The Evolution Of Top Incomes In The U.S.
The History of Milwaukee & It's Government
The Wisconsin Uprising
Video Shows Walker Saying He Will Negotiate With Unions
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Earning Your Income From Tips
The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive
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