I’ve written about the possibility of a government-subsidized grocery before, but only from an open-government perspective concerning Council’s last meeting in joint session with the Community Development Authority. There have been a few press accounts of previous public meetings about a grocery, but not one of the accounts shows the challenges involved in maintaining a subsidized…
Business
Art, Business
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Art Fairs
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Art Fairs from Artsy on Vimeo. In 2015, art fairs generated an estimated $12.7 billion in profits for exhibiting galleries. But why do collectors attend fairs in droves? And what’s behind their rapid international proliferation? The fourth installment of “The Art Market (in Four Parts)” tracks how the art…
Art, Business, Culture
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Patrons
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Patrons from Artsy on Vimeo. What motivates patrons to fund artists’ wildest dreams? How has the concept of art patronage changed over time? And what’s behind the dramatic rise of private art museums? In the third installment of “The Art Market (in Four Parts),” we explore how and why…
Art, Business
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Galleries
by JOHN ADAMS •
What does an art gallery do for an artist? What fuels the global expansion of galleries like Gagosian and White Cube? And how has the internet affected the way galleries do business? In the second installment of “The Art Market Series (in Four Parts),” we look at the complex ecosystem of commercial galleries to probe…
Business, City, Economics, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Politics
The Growth That Uplifts
by JOHN ADAMS •
In a recent interview, Ana Revenga, senior director of the World Bank’s Poverty and Equity Group, talks about ending extreme poverty. See, Ending Extreme Poverty: World Bank Economist Ana Revenga @ The Christian Century. (The World Bank defines extreme poverty as living on less than $1.90 per person per day, and the article describes how…
Art, Business, Free Markets
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Art Market (in Four Parts): Auctions from Artsy on Vimeo. How did the art auctions business become a multi-billion-dollar industry? The first film in a series about the art market explores this question, leading viewers through the complex history of auctions, with specific attention to the last 20 years. The film unpacks record-breaking sales,…
Business, Technology
Building Apple’s New Campus
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, City, Environment, Hip & Prosperous, Lifestyle, Local Government
Places Trying to Cope
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, Food
McDonald’s Risks
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, City, Development
A Man, His Bad Monkey, and the Rest of Us
by JOHN ADAMS •
Embed from Getty Images A man walks through town with a small monkey on his shoulder. (A white-headed capuchin, Cebus capucinus, let’s say.) He walks with it about town, into meetings, focus groups, and visits with various officials of the local government. On many occasions, the monkey scratches, bites, or throws its feces at someone.…
Business, CDA, City, Development
About that Development Deal Near the Roundabout in Whitewater…
by JOHN ADAMS •
These last few months, I’ve watched the efforts of out-of-town developers to build a multi-use facility (by their account, a hotel, sports complex, and senior housing) near Whitewater’s east side roundabout. Two quick, easy points. First, this proposal was, in virtually every aspect, suspect and disreputable. Review of notes, recordings, and research into the developers’…
Business
Is Walmart in Trouble?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Business, Ethics, Misconduct
Ackman’s Right About Herbalife
by JOHN ADAMS •
Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital, has waged a long campaign against Herbalife (in which he has a publicly-disclosed short position, that is, a bet against Herbalife’s future). Ackman’s a capitalist, activist, and philanthropist. (His politics are not mine – he recently urged Michael Bloomberg to run for president; Bloomberg is no libertarian.) In…