Of course it will be; if it takes years to install an adequate traffic signal near campus, one could not expect quick headway on the North Street Bridge. They’ll resume in the spring. The delay itself is not the biggest problem here. Note, instead, how odd is the delay when considered after reading the Walker…
Planning
Free Markets, Government Spending, Libertarians, Planning
Pervasive and Pernicious Crony Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
For some in the Tea Party, and for just about everyone with the Occupy Wall Street movement, there’s a problem with capitalism. I’ve not the slightest problem with either of these groups protesting, and doing so in large numbers. (Congressional Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s correct about wanting to cut spending; he’s wrong to worry about…
City, Development, Planning
The Tragedy of Urban Renewal
by JOHN ADAMS •
There are few worse tragedies than ones that come about by our own hands. New York City has seen more than her share of tragedies, of all sorts, and so-called urban renewal has been one of them. These experiments are mostly over for major cities, but the impulse behind them still persists, plaguing others as…
Books, Free Markets, Liberty, Planning
Luskin on Atlas Shrugged, Paul Krugman, and Crony Capitalism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Donald Luskin’s spent years criticizing Krugman, not as much for Krugman’s economic accomplishments (Krugman’s a Nobel laureate) but for his subsequent politico-economic columns in the New York Times. Krugman is Luskin’s white whale, but that obsession isn’t as interesting to me as Luskin’s observation (toward the end of the video) that Atlas Shrugged is, principally,…
City, Economy, Planning, Wisconsin
Wisconsin’s median income plunged over the last decade
by JOHN ADAMS •
Shocking, and proof of infuriating, disgraceful political failure. Down 14.5%, far worse than the American average (itself an unwelcome decline). Of what use were so many grand, much-touted state and municipal projects? One Next Big Thing after another, and all of them doing nothing to prevent a double-digit decline in common people’s incomes. Every big-talking…
Government Spending, Planning, Science/Nature
NASA’s Amazing New Rocket to … Somewhere
by JOHN ADAMS •
One sees that NASA has a proposal for a new, powerful rocket. It’s a design that’s impressive, expensive, and oddly aimless. NASA’s problems are the problem of many government plans – the plan offers a Next Big Thing without a clear goal. NASA once built rockets to send Americans to the moon and back; now…
Government Spending, Planning, Politics
How Politicians, Bureaucrats Pretend They’re Offering Competitive Solutions
by JOHN ADAMS •
A cunning bureaucrat, or a Texas politician, may tell his constituents that he’ll propose charging user fees, rather than using general tax funds, for basic services. He’s sure to contend that this approach makes the services offered more competitive. That’s nonsense, of course. The same government monopoly would exist as before, with the same lack…
Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Planning
Plant a Garden, Go to Jail for 93-Days?! Reason’s Nanny of the Month for July 2011
by JOHN ADAMS •
Food trucks, baggy pants, but the winner involves trying to ban vegetables in a front yard. Oak Park, Michigan’s city planner, Kevin Rulkowski, tried (but ultimately failed) to ban a front-yard vegetable garden on private property. What’s funny-sad is his attempt to justify the ban through his limited understanding of the word ‘suitable,’ coupled with…
City, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning
Whitewater’s Innovation Center: ‘The die is cast’
by JOHN ADAMS •
Government Spending, Laws/Regulations, Libertarians, Planning
Libertarian Party’s List of Recent Federal Mistakes
by JOHN ADAMS •
The national Libertarian party’s re-published a list of the top-ten federal government mistakes, with the addition of ten new mistakes. I’ve listed them below — the details for each are available at the LP website. Exec. Dir. Wes Benedict contends that these are mostly mistakes of the Obama Administration, but many of these policies pre-date…
City, Planning
Money, Memory, Butterflies
by JOHN ADAMS •
A few more tidbits from last night’s Common Council meeting. Money It’s correct, but disingenuous, for Whitewater’s city manager to observe that he cannot assure spending without the Common Council’s approval (and so could not have promised a particular public works project). He’s right, but he’s the last official who should make that observation. These…
Development, Economy, Free Markets, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Planning, Taxes/Taxation
Stossel: End Corporate Welfare
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason, John Stossel writes about the problem – a big, expensive one – of corporate welfare. Particular businesses shouldn’t receive preferential treatment, including taxpayer handouts, from government. Taxes and fees should be lower across the board, and without preference for one corporation over another. Corporate handouts only reduce competitiveness and increase dependency, and…
Planning
Japanese Resilience through Evolving Policies
by JOHN ADAMS •
Jesse Walker’s latest article at Reason is entitled, Resilient Japan: Three lessons from the week’s disasters. Here’s Walker’s assessment of Japan following natural and human disaster: An 8.9 earthquake, a 33-foot tsunami, a series of crises at their battered nuclear plants: The people of Japan have withstood the last week with admirable tenacity. There’s no…