Chicago Policy Review: How public bus routes can deconcentrate poverty and promote equity
New research suggests that a more effective approach to changing the geography of poverty requires the expansion of effective public transportation systems.
On Our Radar
A curated collection of links to news, analysis, trends, ideas and views from elsewhere.
NYT: How ‘Not in My Backyard’ became ‘Not in My Neighborhood’
The expectation that homeowners should be able to reach beyond their property lines has become deeply embedded. The new tax law has raised the possibility that homeownership may be losing some of its privileged status in American society, as the benefits of the mortgage interest and property tax deductions shrink.
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WSJ: Who’s the Most Valuable Online Lender? After This Deal, It’s GreenSky
A new $200 million investment vaults GreenSky over Social Finance Inc. to become the most highly-valued online lender in the U.S.
WSJ: Who’s the Most Valuable Online Lender? After This Deal, It’s GreenSky Read More »
The Atlantic: Mick Mulvaney Is quickly deregulating the financial industry
Mick Mulvaney intends to make all the drama surrounding his appointment as interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau worth it.
The Atlantic: Mick Mulvaney Is quickly deregulating the financial industry Read More »
Washington Post: America’s forgotten towns: Can they be saved or should people just leave?
Economics 101 suggests it’s time for a big migration west from the Rust Belt to the Boom Belt. But economists missed something important about these towns: They have social capital. Trust is what you might call the “magic fairy dust” that helps economies thrive.
Reveal: Trump vowed to fix US infrastructure, but his budget stiffs small towns
The block grant program and other federal programs that have assisted communities with about $8 billion annually for cleaner water, safer sidewalks, streetlights and sewage treatment are on the chopping block in Washington.
Reveal: Trump vowed to fix US infrastructure, but his budget stiffs small towns Read More »
New York Times: The best and worst places to grow up
Children who grow up in some places go on to earn much more than they would if they grew up elsewhere.
New York Times: The best and worst places to grow up Read More »
Fast Company: America’s affordable housing crisis Is driving its homelessness crisis
There’s a clear link between a lack of places to live and the number of people sleeping out of doors at night. And the solution is clear, too: Cities need to double down not just on homeless services, but on building more affordable housing, and quickly.
Fast Company: America’s affordable housing crisis Is driving its homelessness crisis Read More »
ProPublica: Nothing Protects Black Women From Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth
Not education. Not income. Not even being an expert on racial disparities in health care
ProPublica: Nothing Protects Black Women From Dying in Pregnancy and Childbirth Read More »
OZY: The south: the best and worst place for the American dream
The 2017 Opportunity Index, a comprehensive look at the factors that drive opportunity across the United States, reveals how the South is home to some of the most dynamic and fastest -growing areas in the country — but also some of the least hopeful.
OZY: The south: the best and worst place for the American dream Read More »
Quartz: Facebook is dropping its fundraising fees for nonprofits, but not for personal causes
Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook will drop fees to nonprofit fundraisers, but the company will keep them for individuals trying to raise money on the platform.
New York Times: The Great American Single-Family Home Problem
Building more housing, more densely, could help address a widespread economic challenge. A fight over one lot in Berkeley, California shows how tough that could be.
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Public Books: The Big Picture: America’s real estate developer in chief
A native of Queens, Donald Trump was the son and heir to Fred Trump, a scrappy and ruthless developer of housing for New York’s white working and middle class. An outer-borough nativist and one-time Klan supporter, the senior Trump profited mightily from the federal government’s massive intervention in the real estate industry, which began in the Great Depression. His fortune was premised on strict racial segregation, a process whose legacies still shape the geography of urban and suburban America.
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LA Times: Completely unnecessary spat over CFPB leaves consumers out in the cold
Los Angeles Times, Nov. 27, 2017: Completely unnecessary spat over CFPB leaves consumers out in the cold For his part, Trump tweeted over the weekend that the CFPB “has been a total disaster” that has left financial firms “devastated and unable to properly serve the public.” That, of course, is total nonsense. The CFPB has
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The Economist: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last?
Has Mr Trump kept his promise to revive American manufacturing, mining and the like? A more probable explanation is that he came to office just as America began to run out of willing workers to fill all of its job vacancies. As unemployment has fallen, from over 6% in mid-2014 to 4.1% today, wage growth has gradually picked up.
The Economist: Blue-collar wages are surging. Can it last? Read More »