Tag: economics

Bike Lanes


Augmented reality again. Similar to that projected pedestrian crossing. The system projects a virtual bike lane (using lasers!) on the ground around the cyclists, providing drivers with a recognizable boundary they can easily avoid.
2013-05-11: this is the kind of stuff needing to be shoved down the throats of the many NIMBY assholes around town.

NYC DOT found that protected bikeways had a significant positive impact on local business strength. After the construction of a protected bicycle lane on 9th Avenue, local businesses saw a 49% increase in retail sales.

2016-09-21: I approve

shadowy activists, who seem to have a warehouse of orange cones, have been erecting protected lanes around San Francisco that last for brief periods before they (or someone else) remove them. The group joins others nationwide to push for safe roads with guerrilla actions, including organizations in New York, Boston, and Portland.

2023-03-11: NYPD right of way regulations

  1. Marked NYPD vehicles
  2. Unmarked NYPD vehicles
  3. Vehicles with a Thin Blue Line flag bumper sticker
  4. A dumpster with the Punisher logo on it
  5. Film crews for Blue Bloods
  6. Vehicles whose owner’s cousin used to work for the city (any city is fine)
  7. Amazon delivery trucks
  8. Pedestrians walking against traffic
  9. Any double-parked motorized vehicle
  10. Regular film crews

50. Cyclists

Infrastructure and Flow

Maps of infrastructure visualize what it’s possible for people to do. Maps of flow show what they actually do. The 2 may diverge sharply. The distinction between maps of infrastructure and maps of flow matters to me because I think it can help explain certain misconceptions and misunderstandings about our connected world. My contention is that we tend to assume more connections than actually exist. We see a map of infrastructure that shows it’s possible to fly from Antananarivo to Albania and assume, on an unconscious level, that the connection is routine, frequent, common.

2015-08-27: Interactive globe with trade as little dots of light.

When Giants Fall

with america bankrupt, who will be the next hegemon? china does not seem to be ready.

In When Giants Fall, Panzner makes his case for the turbulent economic changes that will be occurring over the next few years and examines the resulting economic opportunities.

The economic changes will be widespread. Businesses will struggle amid wars, shortages, logistical disruptions, and a breakdown of the established monetary order. Individuals will be forced to rethink livelihoods, lifestyles, living arrangements, and locales. Political structures will be in flux, as local leaders gain influence at the expense of national authorities. For many people, it will be nothing short of a modern Dark Ages, where each day brings fresh anxieties, unfamiliar risks, and a sense of foreboding.

Desuburbanization

In a deep and sustained downturn, home prices would likely sink further and not rise, dimming the appeal of homeownership, a large part of suburbia’s draw. Renting an apartment — perhaps in a city, where commuting costs are lower — might be more tempting. And although city crime might increase, the sense of safety that attracted city-dwellers to the suburbs might suffer, too, in a downturn. Many suburban areas have already seen upticks in crime in recent years, which would only get worse as tax-poor towns spent less money on policing and public services.

it’s not all bad, in other words.

Auto Bailout

People are neatly lining up on either side of this auto industry bailout subject, but most of them are ducking the core issues. If you’re pro or you’re con, here are some of the questions you have to answer to be credible. Pro. If you’re in favor of a bailout, you need to explain how the buck – literally – stops here. Why will capping salaries, for example, change diddly with respect to the US auto companies’ competitiveness? Or are you merely arguing that this was a perfect storm – economic downturn, super-spike in oil, etc. – and so we should bail the auto companies out? (In which case, what about the airlines? Oh wait, they haven’t all failed yet – so much for that argument.) Con. If you’re in favor of letting the auto companies go bankrupt, you need to explain why we’ll be right this time about the systemic consequences when we have been wrong most of the way to this point about every other company, especially Lehman. There is no doubt that the auto companies need to restructured, consolidated, and generally folded, spindled, and mutilated, but do we know enough about the implications to let it happen during the worst downturn since the Depression?

no bailout.