Lessons from the Canadian wildfires
The New York Times recently reported on the economic impacts of the Canadian wildfires on our neighbor to the north. The health-related costs probably are the first thing one thinks of, but also taking a hit are oil and gas operations, timber, and tourism.Whole neighborhoods have been washed away with a result of many people losing their homes, cars, and material possessions. Canada has suffered many natural disasters in the 21st century and the cost of them continues to rise, which makes insurers concerned.Read the whole article here: Canada Offers Lesson in the Economic Toll of Climate Change
Brain drain from Boston, NY City, San Francisco
The New York Times' podcast "The Daily" recently did a feature about college-educated Americans leaving the big coastal cities (Boston, NYC, LA, San Francisco, DC) because they can't afford to live there. Instead, they are moving to smaller, mid-sized cities in other places in the country where the cost of living is more affordable.Without the high costs of housing, food and other essentials, these college-educated people can start businesses, start families, buy homes and achieve the components of the American Dream that they would never have been able to afford in the coastal cities, which are turning into places that only the wealthiest can afford.Lower wage workers have been leaving big cities for many decades, but the "brain drain" of college grads has been happening for just the past ten years or so. The pandemic accelerated this, with a third of all workers in Austin saying they are working remotely and moved there because it had the lifestyle and amenities they wanted at a price they could afford.As a result, much of the entrepreneurship and networking that used to happen in big cities is now happening elsewhere. These mid-sized cities are growing and are building to accommodate the new populations. Unlike older, larger cities that have made building difficult, these other cities: Phoenix, Austin, Salt Lake City are making it easy to build new housing.The podcasters interviewed two people who loved NYC and left it. They both talked about the many things they loved about the city, but getting worn down by the cost of living. One moved to Minneapolis and had so much time (without the daily schlepp of NYC) that he wrote a novel and is biking hundreds of miles each weekend and entertaining friends for dinner - things he never did in New York. The other moved to Austin and now owns a house, two bars that she runs, and four dogs - things she could never do in NYC.What does this mean for these big cities? Well, they're loosing the tax base and the trickle down spending that funds retail and service sectors and supports lower wage jobs.What should the big cities do? BUILD MORE HOUSING! So why don't they? The people who do own property in these cities (who get to vote) don't want more housing because they think it will reduce the equity and value they have in their homes, usually their greatest asset.What's the impact in smaller cities? If they keep building, the housing does increase in value, but not to the soaring heights of the no-longer affordable cities.