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Posts Tagged ‘economy’

$2.50

$2.50

I was browsing through some data about historical gas prices, when I found some an interesting graph from the Energy Information Administration. Immediately something jumped off the page at me: when looking at historical inflation-adjusted gas prices, every time the price goes above $2.50 we’ve had a major economic meltdown.

Growth for the Sake of Growth

I caught an article on the New York Times today that really illustrated an important idea.
Growth for the sake of growth doesn’t get you anywhere.
The article takes a look at the Florida economy, and explains that after generations of a “growth-driven” economy, the population in Florida has begun to level out, and it’s taking the state’s [...]

Advancing Houston

Tory Gattis wrote this column yesterday, and I have to say I heartily agree with it. Here’s the bulk of it:
Houston has a unique window of opportunity right now to secure its economic future as well as improve its world-city status. We’re currently the global capital of the oil and gas industry, one of the [...]

When a picture is worth 1000 words…

When a picture is worth 1000 words...

This (from Slate) is an incredible visual representation of the current downturn, and of how fortunate we are to be in Texas. The blue circles represent job gains in the last year, and the red circles represent job losses. Click on the image to see the original, interactive page. It’s crazy.

Light (Crude) Reading

Houston Tomorrow published this summary of the long discussed stimulus bill that Obama plans to pass as soon as he takes office. They the following:
Relatively speaking, the stimulus bill marks a tenfold increase in transit spending, perhaps the biggest sign yet that mass transit is becoming politically popular.
That’s good news.
- – – – -
What’s not [...]

Necessity is the mother of invention

There was an article on CNN today talking about entrepreneurs. The article begins by discussing the difficulty in quitting a project when it’s failing, but then goes on to discuss entrepreneurship in general, and it really hit home with me.
In a recession that has forced employers to eliminate 2.6 million jobs in 2008, people who [...]

Whatever shall we do…

“How can we save the suburbs?” asks Allison Arieff.
In urban areas, there’s rich precedent for the transformation or reuse of abandoned lots or buildings. Vacant lots have been converted into pocket parks, community gardens and pop-up stores (or they remain vacant, anxiously awaiting recovery and subsequent conversion into high-end office space condos). Old homes get [...]

From the Newswire: January 12, 2008

Bulgaria is freezing its collective buns off…
and mad at Russia to boot.
I wonder how many political points we could pick up by sending about 1 million electric heaters to places like Bulgaria?
That sounds like good economic stimulus to me, actually exporting something…
That said, apparently the gas will resume flowing pretty soon, so the point is [...]

Thank Goodness for Ed Emmett…

I don’t want to speculate on the outcome of this election too generally. I wasn’t overly impressed with either of the major candidates, and as no other party even made a ripple this year, I found it a rather boring election cycle.

I will say this, I am *thrilled* to hear that Ed Emmett will be [...]

Suburban Ghost Towns

Nice, short read on Houston Tommorrow Growth News today…
Foreclosures and bankrupt developers are leaving vacant lots and homes in their path
Stories about half-built subdivisions left largely empty due to the collapse of the home financing market are increasing in numbers as the broader economic crisis sets in, and even what was once “prime property” is [...]

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