Comments on: Late Late Nite FDL: Weekend Serenade

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:27:01 +0000

eCAHN – in the end, IMHO, it’s all about moving money around – if all you do is local, then the money that gets moved around is local. Businesses also need money coming into them from outside the local area, so they need to be doing things that OTHER people want/need. The question is: what do people want/need NOW? and into the future? And how to harness that – prepare for that?

By: eCAHNomics

eCAHNomics — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:23:03 +0000

Disagree with you on making economy more local. It’s part of the solution, but only a tea-einsy part. I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about it wrt mid-Hudson region where I worked for awhile with someone with a small consulting business to foster green & local economies. There’s just no mechanism to make people change their behavior in the massive way that would be necessary to make the latter work.

WRT green economy, there is a good possibility that change will occur, but still less than 100% probability.

By: SanderO

SanderO — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:22:19 +0000

Grow is a no no word.

We have been brainwashed to believe that we must “grow”.

The fact is we must SUSTAIN and we cannot grow.

Clear thy head of this notion that growing is where it’s going.

By: SanderO

SanderO — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:20:55 +0000

College edgemacation is fine and dandy… but we need jobs for those big heads when they graduate… and a way to pay for the rip off edgemencation. Fine and dandy when they got plucked to Wall street starting at 12kK a year. But that ain’t happenin. Know what an engineer makes with all them letters after their name?

Different world out there.

We need to think about work and how people paid for what they do.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:20:37 +0000

I don’t have the figures, though the ‘rule of thumb’ on the multiplier effect on manufacturing jobs is 3x around as I recall — alabama did not have one company that could have serviced auto manufacturing before they went about getting the investment in this way..now they have whole clusters of companies to service the manufacturers. They really changed their economy by doing this.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:19:01 +0000

Christy is upstairs with new thready goodness…

By: eCAHNomics

eCAHNomics — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:18:48 +0000

Do you have any idea what return the taxpayers got on the $240 million? I have never done any local economic development, so I am not facile with how the analysis is done. I do enter the subject with a bias against what the govt studies show, though, because they have a vested interest in proving the tax giveaways worked.

OTOH, you can’t argue with the fact that job have moved south, so maybe the returns are really there.

By: TobyWollin

TobyWollin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:17:35 +0000

eCAHN – the DH says that SUNY is going to be eviscerated before this is over, which is not what the state needs frankly. But, from an economic development standpoint, what we need in the state is a state economic policy that invests in people that are already in the state and who want to grow and develop in the state — not chase around trying to cannibalize companies from other states and communities. Grow our own. Work with people who WANT to be here.

By: SanderO

SanderO — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:17:24 +0000

The new economy has to be more locally based businesses… the Malling of America is coming to an end and the big boxes go bankrupt one after the next. Rememeber (In)Comp(entent)USA.. gone.. then it was Circuit City… to be followed by BestBuy… and these are the guys selling chinese produced TVs PCs, and other electronics. Bye bye record companies too.

And all the linen and bath stores are going the way of the Dodo too as no one is buying to upgrade their underwater house or thinking about spending that home equity to eek out some more cash on the resell game.

We have lots of robber barons who made tons of money and are still spending it on luxury homes while there are companies in place who do this type of work and where they can actually spend it. Why sit on investments which are evaporating? Spend those millions on diamonds, marble, art and whatever baubbles are out there. The nouveau riche have taking a shot to the solar plexus… that segment is also going the way of the dodo and they were big spenders at the next tier down from the robber barons. Toll bros is heading for oblivion as no one is in the market for the idiotic poorly built McMansions in Burbia.

I am celebrating all the money I haven’t lost in investments and real estate.

By: Marion in Savannah

Marion in Savannah — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 13:17:12 +0000

We’re all praying for rain, but some basic sensible conservation would help too. I found a blog about the Atlanta water shortage with a report from the Georgia Water Coalition. Maybe if they fixed their leaky pipes it might help a bit…