Jesse Walker writes about a large-scale Biotech Park project in Baltimore that’s an utter waste and wreck. Whitewater’s own experience with a so-called tech park, although far smaller, will prove no better. A projects like these depend on (1) dishonesty, and (2) flacking and covering for dishonesty. The story doubles as a tour through some…
Poverty
Charity, Laws/Regulations, Poverty
Terrorists in the Soup Kitchen
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason magazine posts on a request from the United Way of Central Maryland that a local soup kitchen certify that they were in compliance with anti-terrorism laws: Baltimore’s Viva House soup kitchen and food pantry has been feeding the poor since 1968, and for many years, it has gotten funds from the local United Way.…
Charity, Government Spending, Libertarians, Poverty
Ilya Somin: Libertarianism and the Reliance Interests of People Who Depend on Government Programs
by JOHN ADAMS •
Prof. Somin writes that It is indeed true that there are people who depend on government programs that should be abolished, and in some cases it would be unjust to simply cut them off immediately. But that doesn’t mean we should simply leave the programs in place forever. There is a wide range of options…
Charity, Libertarians, Poverty
P.J. Byrne: The Secret to a Libertarian State
by JOHN ADAMS •
Byrne writes: I read an intriguing story last month about Toby Ord, a lecturer at Oxford University, who has pledged to donate £1,000,000 to charitable causes over his lifetime. Dr Ord is no millionaire – he currently earns £25,300 per year. He and his wife have pledged to give annually 10% of their income to…
City, Development, Planning, Poverty
Blight and Blighted
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater’s Common Council meets twice monthly, and was in session Tuesday evening. I follow the proceedings. Fortunately, politics doesn’t begin or end in a day, and few sessions are decisive. (If they were, our condition would be worse than it is.) Part of Tuesday’s session concerned blight, and blighted properties. The two are not the…
Economy, Free Markets, Poverty
Libertarians and Economists Think Economic Progress Is Very Cool | The Atlantic Wire
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yes, libertarians do. Dynamic markets have improved lives for Americans of all classes. So much so, that we’re far less interested in economic classes than other peoples are. Progress so considerable that wealth from a century ago offered less, in so many ways, than an average income today. We’ll gladly leave a defense of stagnation…
Economy, Free Markets, Poverty
Hans Rosling’s 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes
by JOHN ADAMS •
City, Government Spending, Poverty, Taxes/Taxation
Whitewater, Wisconsin’s Next Municipal Budget
by JOHN ADAMS •
Whitewater voted on its 2011 budget this week, and there were no surprises. The city lacks a majority of incumbents willing to cut spending, on a budget of over nine million. (Quick note: a local paper has reported that Whitewater’s tax levy is nine million; that’s incorrect. The budget is nine million, a portion of…
Economy, Poverty
Nitty Gritty Numbers Suggest Downward Spiral – Forbes.com
by JOHN ADAMS •
In unemployment, emergency benefits to extend 99 weeks (almost two years) of unemployment benefits are running out or for some 4 million to 5 million people from December through April. This is proof positive that we are on the cusp of a deepening poverty at the very moment of political stalemate. Rosenberg [David Rosenberg of…
City, Economy, Government Spending, Innovation Center/Tech Park, Poverty
Whitewater’s Innovation Center from the Perspective of the New Deal
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted yesterday about Whitewater’s Innovation Center, in a post entitled, Whitewater’s Innovation Center: Grants and Bonds. The more one looks at the project, the emptier it seems. Attempts to justify the multi-million dollar public expenditure — on their own, apart from any other consideration — are exercises in embarrassing hyperbole. Attempts to answer objections…
City, Poverty
The City Manager’s Selective and Deceptive Use of Data
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over a month ago, Whitewater’s city manager, Kevin Brunner, used his Weekly Report to tout data from the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance that he contended showed the strength of Whitewater’s fiscal position. (Predictably, the website of a local politician ran the figures that Brunner posted in full, without commentary.) Brunner aimed to show that, using data…
City, Government Spending, Politics, Poverty, Taxes/Taxation
Dockside Inspections, a Lost Decade, and Municipal Obstructionism
by JOHN ADAMS •
Years ago, in the 80s, when trade with Japan was controversial, Americans leveled legitimate criticisms about how Japan used dockside inspections of cargo as a way to prevent importation of foreign goods. The regulations were often small, and although rational individually, they were collectively irrational and counter-productive. By inhibiting free trade, Japan’s insidious protectionism actually…
City, Economy, Poverty
Rethinking the U.S. Poverty Measure
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve written about poverty in Whitewater before, and the 2010 Census will offer fresh information on the state of Whitewater’s economy. It’s a subject that cheerleaders for the town probably wish would go away. An ordinary person would prefer economic arrangements that make poverty go away, but there you see the distinction between sensible &…
Charity, Development, Economy, Free Markets, Planning, Poverty, Press
Madison’s Isthmus: Janesville on the Brink
by JOHN ADAMS •
From Madison’s Isthmus, one reads a story about hardship in nearby Janesville, hardship that should be of concern to those in Whitewater, too. No matter how dire the conditions for Janesville now, I believe that an abandonment of virtually every aspect of commercial and business regulation, along with drastic reductions in government spending except principally…