Small Business Lending: Why the Programs Need to Change [View article]
That is quite a conundrum. Perhaps the self-reliance comes across as self-centeredness. All politicians need to "play well with others" as the slang phrase would put it. This is an interesting question to put to the political experts. The fate of the economy in large part depends on it.
On Jul 18 03:50 PM Henry Buttal wrote:
> Mark, > > Thanks for keeping this on the radar. I've helped build several small > business into larger businesses, and am a firm believer that a) the > access to funding SMB's have is constantally overrated and undervalued > by this and previous administrations, and b) the SBA has become a > tool of large banks to reduce risk from the few SMB loans they actually > give out. > > ValleyBoy - experienced business people are hard to vote into office > because they often are brutally candid about the world, and espouse > self-relience. This may play well with the Tea-Party movement types, > but not in comparison to the pandering, sugar-coating and lies used > by most politicians to get into office.
Small Business Lending: Why the Programs Need to Change [View article]
We the citizens need to vote more experienced business people into public office. The poor lending climate for employers is ample argument for the changes needed to occur by ballot.
Bearish Sentiment and Market in Denial Phase [View article]
If you think you can do better, you are free to try your hand at writing an article which makes sense to you.
On Jul 17 08:18 AM tdweb wrote:
> The first graph is just noise. This article is a joke. This is more > proof that seeking alpha has covert funders who are granted special > previlages such as ability publish crappy, worthless articles on > a consistent basis.
Casinos: The Many Advantages of Vegas [View article]
Yes, that it another thing. Las Vegas has political clout with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, whose hometown is nearby Searchlight. Senator Reid has a description of the high-speed rail to Southern California in his newsroom at his website, senate.gov. I've seen it spelled Desert Express and DesertXpress. It seems to have less than optimal value since the competing idea, the expansion of Interstate 15 to six lanes, is about halfway completed.
On Jul 14 07:44 PM BPYHO wrote:
> No american city will ever compete with Vegas. Worldwide maybe Maccau > could steal some of the Asian business someday, but no city in America > will ever compete with Vegas. It's not just the gambling (although > its great), its the atmosphere, the crazy night clubs, the worldclass > restaurants, and the reputation that Vegas has. With that monorail > getting built between LA and Vegas I really dont see anything in > Cali trying to compete with Vegas.
Casinos: The Many Advantages of Vegas [View article]
In addition to being a gambling mecca, Las Vegas is one of the top markets for golf courses. The golf courses have had a good track record of pulling in tourist revenues until recently. Las Vegas has another selling point. Rather than describing it as being in the middle of the desert, they describe it as centrally located in a number of other interesting places. Death Valley National Park, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Great Basin National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion National Park, the golf courses of Utah's Dixie, Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, the Parker Strip on the Colorado River, Mojave National Preserve, Joshua Tree National Park, the all-terrain vehicle parks of the Mojave Desert, and the lakes and ski areas of the forested San Bernardino Mountains. There are ski areas in the mountains readily accessible to Las Vegas to the northwest, northeast, and south of the city. There have been ongoing attempts to diversify their economy beyond gaming, tourism, retirement living, various service industries and warehousing. Their economic outlook is currently mixed. Much depends on any economic rebound and the future availability of water supplies.
No One Saw This Economic Crisis Coming? [View article]
I had a conversation with a fellow who was in the scrap metals business located in an industrial city in California. He told me he could tell a recession was developing as early as late 2006. That is because the scrap metals business is tied to a huge array of other businesses such as housing, technology hardware, manufacturing, construction, energy. The mainstream media and academic prognosticators need to listen to people like him.
California's Pension, Education Costs: Out of Control [View article]
California voters passed Proposition 98 back in 1988. This proposition mandated that at least 39% of General Fund tax revenues be spent on K-14 (kindergarten through junior college) operations. It was writen as an amendment to the state constitution so that voters would be locked into the long-term fiscal consequences. The current state government budget is saddled with these kinds of legal restraints.
Krugman Laying It on a Little Thick [View article]
The stimulus package probably will expedite some necessary infrastructure and maintenance projects. But other than that, the way the package is structured, it just serves to give a boost to those of us who are politically connected and dependent on government spending. The rest of us figure that it is yet another burden to bear.
I went to Las Vegas for a convention in May. There were two conventions in the hotel going on simultaneously and were well attended. The hotel swimming pool area wasn't crowded but not deserted either; this meant that some of the rooms were occupied. The sit-down restaurants had only a few diners. The buffets, on the other hand, had plenty of diners. The little shops in the casinos seemed to be deserted. The gaming areas in the casinos didn't attract much patronage. Most of the little strip malls fronting the commercial arteries seemed to have plenty of traffic with cars parked in their lots. There were less pedestrians on The Strip than I remember in years past. The convention business in Las Vegas probably will continue as an economic mainstay.
More On the Benefits of Smart Rail Transport Policy [View article]
The Texan business situation is viewed here in California as being interesting and encouraging. Lots of Californians have moved there for the business opportunities. If the Texan powers-that-be can find a way a build public-private partnerships and joint power authorities for mass transit in the areas which make sense to do so, then more power to you. Perhaps bonds can be sold to investors to raise revenues for your efforts.
On Jul 09 09:53 AM TonyCinTX wrote:
> As a Texan, I am enthusiastic about high speed rail. I have friends > in Houston; they will pick me up. I can rent a car, take the bus > or a shuttle, if we had a damn metro rail (sub-surface or on-surface) > I could take it. > > In other cities (and Europe) I have taken subway rail all over a > city; there is typically a stop every four blocks or so, easily within > walking distance of your destination. If they can do it in Rome with > all their restrictions on excavation, they can do it anywhere. Or > do it like San Francisco with surface rail and open buses (streetcars). > Or like New York, with lots of cabs. > > Please, we are not idiots here in Texas. The market still rules, > and if rail costs us half as much as driving, you will see a ton > of students traveling and taking buses to their concerts or parties > or whatever. Lower human transportation costs (in money, time or > both) increase market sizes, period, and the cheaper it is the bigger > the increase. > > If you link San Antonio and Austin, you increase the market for San > Antonio by adding a lot of Austinites to it, and the market for Austin > business by adding a even more San Antonians to it. A combined market > created by cheap mass transportation (and thus lower transaction > costs) increases the opportunities for everybody.
More On the Benefits of Smart Rail Transport Policy [View article]
The only private party I know of running a passenger train would be the non-profit company responsible for the Las Vegas Monorail. They realize that the monorail would probably be more profitable once it gets extended to the Las Vegas McCarran International Airport terminal. It currently meanders along the casinos on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip. It might be worthwhile to loop it along the casinos on the west side of the Strip as well. If it gets extended northward to reach into the city limits of Las Vegas, the city government would get involved. The monorail company would probably be turned into a public-private partnership in that case.
On Jul 08 08:30 PM Steve in Greensboro wrote:
> Mr. Avent is perfectly willing to spend your money (the taxpayer's > money) for this boondoogle (high speed rail in Texas, for God's sake!). > I think the probability of him investing his own money is approaching > zero. As is the probability of me investing mine. > > If this is a good idea, why hasn't an entrepreneur (e.g. Boone Pickens) > picked this up? The reason nobody has is that it is a really bad, > profitless idea.
What to Do About the Bottom Billion? [View article]
Most of the existing national boundaries in Africa do not follow the actual tribal border regions. Much of the violence is related to this huge problem.
Small Business Lending: Why the Programs Need to Change [View article]
On Jul 18 03:50 PM Henry Buttal wrote:
> Mark,
>
> Thanks for keeping this on the radar. I've helped build several small
> business into larger businesses, and am a firm believer that a) the
> access to funding SMB's have is constantally overrated and undervalued
> by this and previous administrations, and b) the SBA has become a
> tool of large banks to reduce risk from the few SMB loans they actually
> give out.
>
> ValleyBoy - experienced business people are hard to vote into office
> because they often are brutally candid about the world, and espouse
> self-relience. This may play well with the Tea-Party movement types,
> but not in comparison to the pandering, sugar-coating and lies used
> by most politicians to get into office.
Small Business Lending: Why the Programs Need to Change [View article]
Bearish Sentiment and Market in Denial Phase [View article]
On Jul 17 08:18 AM tdweb wrote:
> The first graph is just noise. This article is a joke. This is more
> proof that seeking alpha has covert funders who are granted special
> previlages such as ability publish crappy, worthless articles on
> a consistent basis.
Explaining Stubbornly High Unemployment Numbers [View article]
Casinos: The Many Advantages of Vegas [View article]
On Jul 14 07:44 PM BPYHO wrote:
> No american city will ever compete with Vegas. Worldwide maybe Maccau
> could steal some of the Asian business someday, but no city in America
> will ever compete with Vegas. It's not just the gambling (although
> its great), its the atmosphere, the crazy night clubs, the worldclass
> restaurants, and the reputation that Vegas has. With that monorail
> getting built between LA and Vegas I really dont see anything in
> Cali trying to compete with Vegas.
Casinos: The Many Advantages of Vegas [View article]
Las Vegas has another selling point. Rather than describing it as being in the middle of the desert, they describe it as centrally located in a number of other interesting places. Death Valley National Park, Spring Mountains National Recreation Area, Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area, Great Basin National Park, Bryce Canyon National Park, Cedar Breaks National Monument, Zion National Park, the golf courses of Utah's Dixie, Grand Canyon National Park, Lake Mead National Recreation Area,
the Parker Strip on the Colorado River, Mojave National Preserve, Joshua Tree National Park, the all-terrain vehicle parks of the Mojave Desert, and the lakes and ski areas of the forested San Bernardino Mountains.
There are ski areas in the mountains readily accessible to Las Vegas to the northwest, northeast, and south of the city.
There have been ongoing attempts to diversify their economy beyond gaming, tourism, retirement living, various service industries and warehousing.
Their economic outlook is currently mixed. Much depends on any
economic rebound and the future availability of water supplies.
No One Saw This Economic Crisis Coming? [View article]
California's Pension, Education Costs: Out of Control [View article]
The current state government budget is saddled with these kinds of legal restraints.
Krugman Laying It on a Little Thick [View article]
Shorting Las Vegas [View article]
The convention business in Las Vegas probably will continue as an economic mainstay.
More On the Benefits of Smart Rail Transport Policy [View article]
If the Texan powers-that-be can find a way a build public-private partnerships and joint power authorities for mass transit in the areas which make sense to do so, then more power to you.
Perhaps bonds can be sold to investors to raise revenues for your efforts.
On Jul 09 09:53 AM TonyCinTX wrote:
> As a Texan, I am enthusiastic about high speed rail. I have friends
> in Houston; they will pick me up. I can rent a car, take the bus
> or a shuttle, if we had a damn metro rail (sub-surface or on-surface)
> I could take it.
>
> In other cities (and Europe) I have taken subway rail all over a
> city; there is typically a stop every four blocks or so, easily within
> walking distance of your destination. If they can do it in Rome with
> all their restrictions on excavation, they can do it anywhere. Or
> do it like San Francisco with surface rail and open buses (streetcars).
> Or like New York, with lots of cabs.
>
> Please, we are not idiots here in Texas. The market still rules,
> and if rail costs us half as much as driving, you will see a ton
> of students traveling and taking buses to their concerts or parties
> or whatever. Lower human transportation costs (in money, time or
> both) increase market sizes, period, and the cheaper it is the bigger
> the increase.
>
> If you link San Antonio and Austin, you increase the market for San
> Antonio by adding a lot of Austinites to it, and the market for Austin
> business by adding a even more San Antonians to it. A combined market
> created by cheap mass transportation (and thus lower transaction
> costs) increases the opportunities for everybody.
Developing World Consuming More Energy than Developed World. Price, Climate Will Suffer [View article]
More On the Benefits of Smart Rail Transport Policy [View article]
On Jul 08 08:30 PM Steve in Greensboro wrote:
> Mr. Avent is perfectly willing to spend your money (the taxpayer's
> money) for this boondoogle (high speed rail in Texas, for God's sake!).
> I think the probability of him investing his own money is approaching
> zero. As is the probability of me investing mine.
>
> If this is a good idea, why hasn't an entrepreneur (e.g. Boone Pickens)
> picked this up? The reason nobody has is that it is a really bad,
> profitless idea.
Increasingly, Legislators Coming Around About Rail Transport Subsidies [View article]
What to Do About the Bottom Billion? [View article]