Economics

Ferguson stands at the lectern wearing a navy suit and glasses in a Capitol board room.

Ferguson Pushes Budget Cuts as Washington Legislature Seeks New Revenue

With the baton passing from Jay Inslee to Bob Ferguson, Washington’s governor has placed more emphasis on fiscal austerity to solve the state's looming budget deficit. But some lawmakers are intent on raising new revenue to avoid deep cuts to social programs.

Rents In San Francisco Are Determined By Demand, New Data Show

Slightly better than the worst possible outcome (detail), by Christine Hou By putting together 60+ years of housing data, much of it gathered from newspaper microfiche,...

Now Is the Time to Re-Read Jane Jacobs Backwards

My copy of Jane Jacobs’ The Death and Life of Great American Cities is dog eared and marked up. There are little arrows on...
A rainy downtown Seattle street scene with bus 590 approaching.

America’s Pessimism Isn’t Economic, Stupid – It’s Human 

Economists are trying to figure out the dissonance between a recovering economy and America's deep pessimism. They're looking in the wrong place.

Sunday Video: The Housing Tax Crisis

Uytae Lee of About Here dives into development fees and taxes, which contribute to a significant proportion of new housing costs. In many North American cities, housing taxes have been increasing much faster than inflation. But why are they increasing so much, what are they used for, and how does this affect homebuilding?

Holiday Video: How Big Can Cities Get?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJesS4zH2GI Davos Amos ask how big cities can get. Many megacities, largely defined as over 10 million people, are rapidly growing in industrialized countries. But...
More than 100 advocates hold signs urging a balanced tax code on the steps of the state Capitol building with its many marble columns.

Op-Ed: Tech Workers Must Challenge the Political Power of Their Bosses

Tech workers like me don’t enjoy being a bargaining chip to protect our CEO’s bottom line. And we know better than anyone else that their claims are false: corporate giants can afford higher taxes.

Amazon Splits the HQ2 Baby, Rich-Get-Richer Style

The suspense is over as Amazon made it official yesterday that its headquarters expansion will be to Arlington, Virginia and to New York City....