The euro was adopted on January 1st, 1999, so the currency is about to turn 13. I’m not a conspiracy theorist, or a numerologist, or a triskaidekaphobe. But 13 might turn out to be a very unlucky number. I’ve written…
Category: Economics
Can today get any worse for state economic news?
Earlier today, I posted the latest data from the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices, which showed Atlanta metro area home prices declining dramatically in September: “On a monthly basis, Atlanta actually posted a record low rate of -5.9% in September…
Case Shiller shows home prices down in September; Atlanta has nation’s worst decline
There are lots of ways of looking at today’s release of the S&P/Case Shiller Home Price Indices for September. The index actually uses three months of data — July, August, and September, in this case — and is released both…
The Savannah River deepening, as seen from Charleston
An interesting piece in Sunday’s Charleston Post and Courier: What’s at stake with Savannah dredging? The piece is laid out as a Q&A, with generally clear responses to basic historical questions as well as more immediate ones. The piece includes…
In some cities, home prices and rents are coming back into sync, according to the WSJ
When I moved to Savannah in 1995, I paid $625/month in rent for a large parlor level apartment on East Gwinnett Street just off the park. It was a newly rehabbed space, and there were plenty of much cheaper places…
Update on Savannah, Georgia, and U.S. gas prices
It’s been about a month since I’ve posted about gas prices. As of right now (Friday evening), GasBuddy.com reports that the Savannah average for regular unleaded at the pump is $3.166/gallon; the Georgia average is $3.191; the U.S. average is…
Richard Florida on “The Geography of Stuck”
I write pretty often about mobility in America, including this very recent post about migration into and out of Savannah and Chatham County. Richard Florida has a pithy and interesting post today at The Atlantic Cities: The Geography of Stuck.…
Is the 1% better off than they used to be?
A quick post regarding income inequality, relying on a couple of wonkish resources. I have made several posts on this subject. First off, there’s really no disputing that income inequality has been steadily increasing in America for decades. Wealth distribution…
Nothing “unintended” in arrest of Mercedes executive in Alabama
Here’s the beginning of a piece from Bloomberg, Alabama Considers Revision of Immigration Law Ensnaring Mercedes Executive: On Nov. 16, a European businessman paying a visit to his company’s manufacturing plant near Tuscaloosa, Alabama, was pulled over for driving a…
Newt talks sense — and humanity — on immigration policy
I’ve been extremely critical of Georgia’s state policies regarding illegal immigration, especially HB 87, which has apparently led to critical farm labor shortages in some areas — and which has uprooted hardworking, taxpaying families that have lived in the state…
Georgia leads the nation in job loss over the past year
Periodically, after I have written about Georgia’s dismal employment picture, a reader asks something like this: “Well, we’re having the same problems that everyone else is having, right?” In the broadest sense that all states have faced difficult times in…
The Supercommittee failed, now what?
If you’re reading this, I suppose I don’t need to waste any time giving background on the so-called Supercommittee that was supposed to come up with $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction. I’ve read lots of reactions about the failure, but…
Americans continuing to drive less: a sign of economic weakness or a paradigm shift?
This is one of the data points that I’ve been following more closely than others. While Americans continue to drive A LOT — approximately 2.22 trillion miles so far in 2011 — there has been a significant decline over the…
Will the transportation sales tax pass next year in coastal Georgia?
The 1% sales tax for transportation infrastructure will go before Georgia voters in 12 regional districts in 2012. The current plan has the vote being held at the same time as the primaries, which would in theory attract more Republican…