I’m a big fan of The Washington Post’s Ezra Klein, a columnist who deals primarily with financial matters. His writings rely on data that he has interpreted clearly. And, unlike some other economics columnists, he understands political realities and takes…
From today’s AJC: The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. accuses the executives and directors of of Alpha Bank & Trust of sloppy lending practices and strategy focused on “growth above all else, including safety and soundness,†according to a lawsuit filed…
I’ve been inside Ruel Joyner’s apartment on the second floor of 24e. Earlier this year, I interviewed him in his capacity as Downtown Business Association president; we met downstairs in the store, took the elevator up to the second level,…
I used to be a big fan of David Brooks and his NYT column, which sometimes dealt with politics through a realistic, right-of-center perspective and sometimes seemed to channel significant cultural trends into a nifty 750 words. But what’s going…
The U.S. economy added 103,000 jobs in September, according to data released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The unemployment rate remained steady at 9.1%. The numbers are seasonally adjusted. Adding jobs is obviously better than losing them, but…
I have been highly critical of the ways in which Georgia’s leadership has dealt with the 2007 to 2009 recession and the sluggish growth that has followed. There’s now mounting evidence that Georgia and other Southern states have slipped back…
The Savannah Morning News coverage of Visit Savannah’s new video produced for YouTube can be found here. According to that piece, Visit Savannah spent $15,000 on the video in the hopes that it will “go viral” on YouTube. I don’t…
I’ve written a number of times lately about the particularly weak economy in the South. So far, despite the concerns and predictions of economists like Nouriel Roubini, the data suggests that the nation as a whole is not currently in…
Georgia Senator Johnny Isakson was one of the major proponents of the homebuyer tax credit, a spectacularly failed policy whose only clear beneficiary was the banking system. I discussed the failures of the tax credit here. Now Isakson is selling…
I’ve already posted my thoughts on two other issues that will be on the ballot this fall here in Chatham County: Should we abolish term limits for the Chatham County chairperson? Will Sunday sales pass in Savannah and other local…
Gas prices are finally following to the level I expected weeks ago. According to GasBuddy.com, Savannah area prices for unleaded have fallen to about $3.25 per gallon. I’d expect them to fall further, and we’ll soon be seeing some stations…
