Category: Policy

Might as well outlaw doubt

28 September, 2012 (09:15) | Africa, Angola, Capital, currency, Ghana, Global news, Inflation, Markets, money, Policy, Regulation, Zambia |

By:David A. Smith How confident are you?   Among the many reasons that money, that is the portable and numerical denomination of freely tradable symbols of value, is one of humanity’s greatest inventions (mathematics is discovered, money was invented) is its power to rebalance power between questionable rulers and poor people – and, as shown [...]

Month in Review, June, 2012: Part 2, this is a happy occasion

22 August, 2012 (09:00) | Affordable Housing, Charities, Cities, Egypt, Euro, Foreclosure, Local issues, Mobile homes, Month in review, Municipal bankruptcy, Policy, Regulation, Theory, Zoning |

[Previous Months in Review available here: May 12, Apr 12, Mar 12, Feb 12, Jan 12]   By:David A. Smith   [Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]   Unfortunately, not all houses house families, and housing that has too long been vacant of aspirant families or civilly-minded empty nesters can become a convenient shell for hermit [...]

Month in Review, June, 2012: Part 1, Let’s not bicker and argue

21 August, 2012 (09:00) | Affordable Housing, Charities, Cities, Egypt, Euro, Foreclosure, Local issues, Mobile homes, Month in review, Municipal bankruptcy, Policy, Regulation, Theory, Zoning |

[Previous Months in Review available here: May 12, Apr 12, Mar 12, Feb 12, Jan 12]   By:David A. Smith   In June, we rediscovered that, as anyone knows who’s trolled Facebook or compared an executive’s bio or Web site photo with the reality, what we present is usually more appealing than what we actually [...]

The ten housing-policy commandments – times two: Part 4, change and resilience

26 June, 2012 (11:17) | Affordability, Capital markets, Ecosystem, Essential posts, Infrastructure, Legislation and policy, MEEs, Policy, Primer, Theory, Urbanization, US News |

By:David A. Smith   [Continued from yesterday's Part 3 and the preceding Part 1 and Part 2.]   As we’ve seen so far in this four-part post, I had no trouble reeling off a score of answers, in response to the Bipartisan Policy Center‘s intriguing blog question:   What lessons can the U.S. learn from [...]

It will happen this way, Part 2, leave open the door to the car

19 June, 2012 (10:42) | Capital markets, Euro, Global news, Greece, Markets, Policy, Politics, Speculation |

[Continued from yesterday's Part 1.]   By:David A. Smith   And someone you know Maybe even trust   You want to know something? They won’t want us to ask them. They’ll just want us to get it for them.   Yesterday’s post predicting the imminence of a massive Eurozone recapitalization – and expulsion of one [...]