Me neither. But they've heard of Portland's new homeless spa and substance abuse hangout, and they're decidedly not impressed. (Turns out they're a Ron Paul-type libertarian think tank out of Alabam.)
Comments (16)
There was an even better article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal about Portland's "Bum Hilton". If nothing else, it makes the decision makers at City Hall look even more divorced from economic reality than they already are. That should not be a surprise to most regular readers of this message board.
In the article it points out that Portland has the distinction of having the most homeless per capita of any city in the U.S.; as well as Oregon being No. 2
for Food Stamp recipients. Way to go Blue Oregon!
The Mises site also has an excellent article that dissects some of the fiscal/monetary policy issues raised in yesterday's discussion on the Reich testimony. Keeping the Ron Paul reference in mind, one of the site's authors says,
"But here is the problem: despite Krugman's complaint that government spending is not high enough and despite his defense of Bernanke's actions against criticisms from people like Ron Paul (whom Krugman never misses a chance to smear with false allegations), the truth is that the Fed and the Obama administration are at the end of the tracks, and their train cannot go any farther. Even though the Fed and the government have thrown billions of dollars at the housing market to try to keep housing prices from falling, prices are falling."
"Furthermore, even though Krugman admits the 'recovery' is running out of steam, he blames people like Ron Paul because they don't believe the Fed should be in the money-printing business. What Krugman and Bernanke refuse to even acknowledge is that the scheme of diverting resources to prop up the failures of the last boom's malinvestments is a colossal failure, and until government policymakers stop trying to reflate the failed boom, there will be no recovery."
I like how they spent $360,000+ per studio apartment when they could buy building after building of studio apartments downtown for under $100,000 per unit. Even large, luxury units sell for far less than $360,000/unit.
The median price of an apartment unit in Portland was under $70,000 in the first quarter of 2011 and was around $55,000 in 2009 when this project was funded.
Orlando and LA shelters are charging $6 or $7 a night for a bed and a meal. The shelter managers pointing out that most homeless people are not entirely destitute. Some have jobs, and most get some form of social security income. "It depends on how they want to spend the money they do have" says one shelter manager.
Meanwhile the fat cats get richer building empty condos and toy trains to nowhere, and the rest of us get stuck with the bills run up by the very rich, and caring for those who cannot care for themselves.
Ludwig von Mises is an Austrian economist who has been getting more attention since 2008. (No idea what the "institute" is doing/saying in his name.)
Here is the quote I see the most often these days:
“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit (debt) expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit (debt) expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.” – Ludwig von Mises
Note that according to him, we're still putting off the catastrophe through continued credit expansion by the Fed/Treasury (i.e. the worst is still coming.)
I would have a much easier time accepting this expensive homeless shelter (which will house a tiny percentage of the people on the streets) if our politicians would at the same time act to reduce bad behavior on our streets, like restricting panhandling, banning donations to panhandlers, confiscating stolen shopping carts. If our sit/lie law doesn't comport with the Oregon constitution, our city council should be fighting to amend the state constitution so that Portland can have an effective sit/lie no loitering law. Instead, our city council just doesn't seem care about these issues.
Stuart: "Instead, our city council just doesn't seem to care about these issues."
It's the same attitude as the police show in Jack's recent post about property crime in Buckman. Our city just shrugs about the big quality of life things like crime and schools, and seems to take the attitude that Portlanders just complain too much.
But on the non-essential things like bicycling and condo development the city can't get involved enough, spending tons of money and aggressively pushing changes.
Lange, Pinot Gris 2015
Kiona, Lemberger 2014
Willamette Valley, Pinot Gris 2015
Aix, Rosé de Provence 2016
Marchigüe, Cabernet 2013
Inazío Irruzola, Getariako Txakolina Rosé 2015
Maso Canali, Pinot Grigio 2015
Campo Viejo, Rioja Reserva 2011
Kirkland, Côtes de Provence Rosé 2016
Cantele, Salice Salentino Reserva 2013
Whispering Angel, Côtes de Provence Rosé 2013
Avissi, Prosecco
Cleto Charli, Lambrusco di Sorbara Secco, Vecchia Modena
Pique Poul, Rosé 2016
Edmunds St. John, Bone-Jolly Rosé 2016
Stoller, Pinot Noir Rosé 2016
Chehalem, Inox Chardonnay 2015
The Four Graces, Pinot Gris 2015
Gascón, Colosal Red 2013
Cardwell Hill, Pinot Gris 2015
L'Ecole No. 41, Merlot 2013
Della Terra, Anonymus
Willamette Valley, Dijon Clone Chardonnay 2013
Wraith, Cabernet, Eidolon Estate 2012
Januik, Red 2015
Tomassi, Valpolicella, Rafaél, 2014
Sharecropper's Pinot Noir 2013
Helix, Pomatia Red Blend 2013
La Espera, Cabernet 2011
Campo Viejo, Rioja Reserva 2011
Villa Antinori, Toscana 2013
Locations, Spanish Red Wine
Locations, Argentinian Red Wine
La Antigua Clásico, Rioja 2011
Shatter, Grenache, Maury 2012
Argyle, Vintage Brut 2011
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #16
Abacela, Fiesta Tempranillo 2014
Benton Hill, Pinot Gris 2015
Primarius, Pinot Gris 2015
Januik, Merlot 2013
Napa Cellars, Cabernet 2013
J. Bookwalter, Protagonist 2012
LAN, Rioja Edicion Limitada 2011
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Rutherford 2009
Denada Cellars, Cabernet, Maipo Valley 2014
Marchigüe, Cabernet, Colchagua Valley 2013
Oberon, Cabernet 2014
Hedges, Red Mountain 2012
Balboa, Rose of Grenache 2015
Ontañón, Rioja Reserva 2015
Three Horse Ranch, Pinot Gris 2014
Archery Summit, Vireton Pinot Gris 2014
Nelms Road, Merlot 2013
Chateau Ste. Michelle, Pinot Gris 2014
Conn Creek, Cabernet, Napa 2012
Conn Creek, Cabernet, Napa 2013
Villa Maria, Sauvignon Blanc 2015
G3, Cabernet 2013
Chateau Smith, Cabernet, Washington State 2014
Abacela, Vintner's Blend #16
Willamette Valley, Rose of Pinot Noir, Whole Clusters 2015
Albero, Bobal Rose 2015
Ca' del Baio Barbaresco Valgrande 2012
Goodfellow, Reserve Pinot Gris, Clover 2014
Lugana, San Benedetto 2014
Wente, Cabernet, Charles Wetmore 2011
La Espera, Cabernet 2011
King Estate, Pinot Gris 2015
Adelsheim, Pinot Gris 2015
Trader Joe's, Pinot Gris, Willamette Valley 2015
La Vite Lucente, Toscana Red 2013
St. Francis, Cabernet, Sonoma 2013
Kendall-Jackson, Pinot Noir, California 2013
Beaulieu, Cabernet, Napa Valley 2013
Erath, Pinot Noir, Estate Selection 2012
Abbot's Table, Columbia Valley 2014
Intrinsic, Cabernet 2014
Oyster Bay, Pinot Noir 2010
Occhipinti, SP68 Bianco 2014
Layer Cake, Shiraz 2013
Desert Wind, Ruah 2011
WillaKenzie, Pinot Gris 2014
Abacela, Fiesta Tempranillo 2013
Des Amis, Rose 2014
Dunham, Trautina 2012
RoxyAnn, Claret 2012
Del Ri, Claret 2012
Stoppa, Emilia, Red 2004
Primarius, Pinot Noir 2013
Domaines Bunan, Bandol Rose 2015
Albero, Bobal Rose 2015
Deer Creek, Pinot Gris 2015
Beaulieu, Rutherford Cabernet 2013
Archery Summit, Vireton Pinot Gris 2014
King Estate, Pinot Gris, Backbone 2014
Oberon, Napa Cabernet 2013
Apaltagua, Envero Carmenere Gran Reserva 2013
Chateau des Arnauds, Cuvee des Capucins 2012
Nine Hats, Red 2013
Benziger, Cabernet, Sonoma 2012
Roxy Ann, Claret 2012
Januik, Merlot 2012
Conundrum, White 2013
St. Francis, Sonoma Cabernet 2012
The Occasional Book
Phil Stanford - Rose City Vice
Kenneth R. Feinberg - What is Life Worth?
Kent Haruf - Our Souls at Night
Peter Carey - True History of the Kelly Gang
Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games
Amy Stewart - Girl Waits With Gun
Philip Roth - The Plot Against America
Norm Macdonald - Based on a True Story
Christopher Buckley - Boomsday
Ryan Holiday - The Obstacle is the Way
Ruth Sepetys - Between Shades of Gray
Richard Adams - Watership Down
Claire Vaye Watkins - Gold Fame Citrus
Markus Zusak - I am the Messenger
Anthony Doerr - All the Light We Cannot See
James Joyce - Dubliners
Cheryl Strayed - Torch
William Golding - Lord of the Flies
Saul Bellow - Mister Sammler's Planet
Phil Stanford - White House Call Girl
John Kaplan & Jon R. Waltz - The Trial of Jack Ruby
Kent Haruf - Eventide
David Halberstam - Summer of '49
Norman Mailer - The Naked and the Dead
Maria Dermoȗt - The Ten Thousand Things
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
Christopher Buckley - Thank You for Smoking
William Shakespeare - Othello
Joseph Conrad - Heart of Darkness
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything
Cheryl Strayed - Tiny Beautiful Things
Sara Varon - Bake Sale
Stephen King - 11/22/63
Paul Goldstein - Errors and Omissions
Mark Twain - A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
Steve Martin - Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
Beverly Cleary - A Girl from Yamhill, a Memoir
Kent Haruf - Plainsong
Hope Larson - A Wrinkle in Time, the Graphic Novel
Rudyard Kipling - Kim
Peter Ames Carlin - Bruce
Fran Cannon Slayton - When the Whistle Blows
Neil Young - Waging Heavy Peace
Mark Bego - Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul (2012 ed.)
Jenny Lawson - Let's Pretend This Never Happened
J.D. Salinger - Franny and Zooey
Charles Dickens - A Christmas Carol
Timothy Egan - The Big Burn
Deborah Eisenberg - Transactions in a Foreign Currency
Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - Slaughterhouse Five
Kathryn Lance - Pandora's Genes
Cheryl Strayed - Wild
Fyodor Dostoyevsky - The Brothers Karamazov
Jack London - The House of Pride, and Other Tales of Hawaii
Jack Walker - The Extraordinary Rendition of Vincent Dellamaria
Colum McCann - Let the Great World Spin
Niccolò Machiavelli - The Prince
Harper Lee - To Kill a Mockingbird
Emma McLaughlin & Nicola Kraus - The Nanny Diaries
Brian Selznick - The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Sharon Creech - Walk Two Moons
Keith Richards - Life
F. Sionil Jose - Dusk
Natalie Babbitt - Tuck Everlasting
Justin Halpern - S#*t My Dad Says
Mark Herrmann - The Curmudgeon's Guide to Practicing Law
Barry Glassner - The Gospel of Food
Phil Stanford - The Peyton-Allan Files
Jesse Katz - The Opposite Field
Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
J.K. Rowling - Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
David Sedaris - Holidays on Ice
Donald Miller - A Million Miles in a Thousand Years
Mitch Albom - Have a Little Faith
C.S. Lewis - The Magician's Nephew
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
William Shakespeare - A Midsummer Night's Dream
Ivan Doig - Bucking the Sun
Penda Diakité - I Lost My Tooth in Africa
Grace Lin - The Year of the Rat
Oscar Hijuelos - Mr. Ives' Christmas
Madeline L'Engle - A Wrinkle in Time
Steven Hart - The Last Three Miles
David Sedaris - Me Talk Pretty One Day
Karen Armstrong - The Spiral Staircase
Charles Larson - The Portland Murders
Adrian Wojnarowski - The Miracle of St. Anthony
William H. Colby - Long Goodbye
Steven D. Stark - Meet the Beatles
Phil Stanford - Portland Confidential
Rick Moody - Garden State
Jonathan Schwartz - All in Good Time
David Sedaris - Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
Anthony Holden - Big Deal
Robert J. Spitzer - The Spirit of Leadership
James McManus - Positively Fifth Street
Jeff Noon - Vurt
Road Work
Miles run year to date: 113
At this date last year: 155
Total run in 2016: 155
In 2015: 271
In 2014: 401
In 2013: 257
In 2012: 129
In 2011: 113
In 2010: 125
In 2009: 67
In 2008: 28
In 2007: 113
In 2006: 100
In 2005: 149
In 2004: 204
In 2003: 269
Comments (16)
There was an even better article in this weekend's Wall Street Journal about Portland's "Bum Hilton". If nothing else, it makes the decision makers at City Hall look even more divorced from economic reality than they already are. That should not be a surprise to most regular readers of this message board.
In the article it points out that Portland has the distinction of having the most homeless per capita of any city in the U.S.; as well as Oregon being No. 2
for Food Stamp recipients. Way to go Blue Oregon!
Posted by Dave A. | June 2, 2011 7:14 AM
The Mises site also has an excellent article that dissects some of the fiscal/monetary policy issues raised in yesterday's discussion on the Reich testimony. Keeping the Ron Paul reference in mind, one of the site's authors says,
"But here is the problem: despite Krugman's complaint that government spending is not high enough and despite his defense of Bernanke's actions against criticisms from people like Ron Paul (whom Krugman never misses a chance to smear with false allegations), the truth is that the Fed and the Obama administration are at the end of the tracks, and their train cannot go any farther. Even though the Fed and the government have thrown billions of dollars at the housing market to try to keep housing prices from falling, prices are falling."
"Furthermore, even though Krugman admits the 'recovery' is running out of steam, he blames people like Ron Paul because they don't believe the Fed should be in the money-printing business. What Krugman and Bernanke refuse to even acknowledge is that the scheme of diverting resources to prop up the failures of the last boom's malinvestments is a colossal failure, and until government policymakers stop trying to reflate the failed boom, there will be no recovery."
Good reading. Check it out at....
http://mises.org/daily/5278/The-End-of-Bernankes-End-Game
Posted by Newleaf | June 2, 2011 7:16 AM
Hi Jack -
The Mises post is riffing off the piece I wrote which appeared in this weekend's Wall Street Journal:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703937104576303033608531702.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Love the blog,
Ethan
P.S. Thanks for the nice comment, Dave A.
Posted by Ethan Epstein | June 2, 2011 7:21 AM
We don't need a think tank to point out the negatives of Portland providing a over the top handout, vs. Portland lending a hand.
Well meaning endeavors can and often do end poorly, sometimes making a growing problem only worse.
Posted by Ludwig Von Gibby | June 2, 2011 7:26 AM
I like how they spent $360,000+ per studio apartment when they could buy building after building of studio apartments downtown for under $100,000 per unit. Even large, luxury units sell for far less than $360,000/unit.
The median price of an apartment unit in Portland was under $70,000 in the first quarter of 2011 and was around $55,000 in 2009 when this project was funded.
Posted by John | June 2, 2011 9:05 AM
Orlando and LA shelters are charging $6 or $7 a night for a bed and a meal. The shelter managers pointing out that most homeless people are not entirely destitute. Some have jobs, and most get some form of social security income. "It depends on how they want to spend the money they do have" says one shelter manager.
Meanwhile the fat cats get richer building empty condos and toy trains to nowhere, and the rest of us get stuck with the bills run up by the very rich, and caring for those who cannot care for themselves.
Posted by portland native | June 2, 2011 9:24 AM
Ludwig von Mises is an Austrian economist who has been getting more attention since 2008. (No idea what the "institute" is doing/saying in his name.)
Here is the quote I see the most often these days:
“There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit (debt) expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of a voluntary abandonment of further credit (debt) expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.” – Ludwig von Mises
Note that according to him, we're still putting off the catastrophe through continued credit expansion by the Fed/Treasury (i.e. the worst is still coming.)
Posted by Snards | June 2, 2011 10:09 AM
I would have a much easier time accepting this expensive homeless shelter (which will house a tiny percentage of the people on the streets) if our politicians would at the same time act to reduce bad behavior on our streets, like restricting panhandling, banning donations to panhandlers, confiscating stolen shopping carts. If our sit/lie law doesn't comport with the Oregon constitution, our city council should be fighting to amend the state constitution so that Portland can have an effective sit/lie no loitering law. Instead, our city council just doesn't seem care about these issues.
Posted by Stuart | June 2, 2011 10:37 AM
Ludwig von Mises is an Austrian economist who has been getting more attention since 2008.
Von Mises was an Austrian economist. He died in 1973 but many of his ideas are timeless.
Posted by none | June 2, 2011 10:57 AM
Yes none. I actually did realize that he is dead. Just wrote that sentence poorly.
Posted by Snards | June 2, 2011 11:14 AM
Stuart: "Instead, our city council just doesn't seem to care about these issues."
It's the same attitude as the police show in Jack's recent post about property crime in Buckman. Our city just shrugs about the big quality of life things like crime and schools, and seems to take the attitude that Portlanders just complain too much.
But on the non-essential things like bicycling and condo development the city can't get involved enough, spending tons of money and aggressively pushing changes.
Posted by Snards | June 2, 2011 11:23 AM
A dead guy defending Ron Paul against Paul Krugman? Seems about right.
Posted by Allan L. | June 2, 2011 12:22 PM
Ethan, you're a rock star. Great job.
Posted by The Original Bob W | June 2, 2011 1:33 PM
I think Stuart elucidated the best points about why people are negative with projects like this, especially in Portland.
Posted by ws | June 2, 2011 4:27 PM
A dead guy defending Ron Paul against Paul Krugman? Seems about right.
Ron Paul doesn't need a dead man to defend him; thousands of people who he brought into this world are more than willing to vouch for the good doctor.
Posted by Newleaf | June 3, 2011 5:29 AM
Mises video library is HERE!
Posted by AL M | June 3, 2011 12:31 PM