First Car

Most of us have a fondness for our first car. It represented freedom and adulthood.

My first car was a 1930 Model A Ford convertible with a rumble seat that I owned in high school.  I bought it in Draper, South Dakota in 1965 where it had been rusting for many years. The body remained in a very rough state - we painted over the rust and welded fenders. 

The top leaked, there was no interior, and you could see the ground through the floorboards. But she was my first car and I loved her.


More on my Model A at 

http://modelahullinger.blogspot.com/

Decline in Tradable Jobs

The Council of Foreign Relations released a study, "The Evolving Structure of the American Economy and the Employment Challenge."  From 1990 to 2008 all of US job growth was in non-tradable jobs. Non Tradable jobs are those that service the local economy like construction, health care, and government. The jobs where all countries can compete like manufacturing for exports have declined in the United States.


Below is the total job growth from 1990-2008, separated into jobs that can be traded, i.e. offshore outsourced and those which cannot. 

http://www.cfr.org/industrial-policy/evolving-structure-american-economy-employment-challenge/p24366


http://www.economicpopulist.org/content/tradable-jobs


http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/04/trade
  

The Associated Press On Twitter

The Associated Press

 

@AP Global

News, discussion and a behind-the-scenes look at the process from The Associated Press. Managed 24/7 by a team of editors based in NY: http://apne.ws/apstaff

http://www.ap.org

https://twitter.com/AP

World's Largest Economies

The United States is still the dominant economy in the world. But China has overtaken Japan. And China with four times the population of the United States will eventually overtake us as well.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images;_ylt=A0oG7l6xtxBPkSIAgb9XNyoA?p=worlds%20largest%20economy&fr=crmas&fr2=piv-web

Projected Largest Economies

"The World in 2050," a new report by HSBC economist Karen Ward, forecasts the economic prowess of the 100 largest economies. Of interest in her report is where each happens to fall, and how income per capita will grow in a number of emerging markets.

Key notes we've already taken away: Italy will no longer be in the top ten and the U.S., as you've likely guessed, is no longer number one.

Click here to see how the 50 largest economies stack up next to each other >

Read more: 

http://www.businessinsider.com/these-economies-will-dominate-the-world-in-2050-2012-1##ixzz1jNkAUE8a

The Economist on Twitter

Good scoop from The Economist


https://twitter.com/TheEconomist

LQC or “Lighter Quicker Cheaper.”

LQC is an interesting method. It is very effective for considering closing or narrowing streets. You can see how traffic accomodates to a temporary closing or narrowing before making the capital expense of permanently reconstructing the street.

"LQC or “Lighter Quicker Cheaper.” LQC is a strategy coined by Eric Reynolds of the planning firm Urban Systems Management. LQC defines a method for rolling out fast, simple, and low-cost solutions in the built environment which will organically spawn permanent and more meaningful development. By planning and implementing a minimally viable, simple solution to public space, the stage is set for future evolutions of space that will be infinitely more complex and enjoyable. Managing the ability to create effective solutions in balance with bureaucratic stop-gaps and long time frames have been found in temporary, simple innovations which provide solutions that can quickly pass through bureaucratic channels with minimum levels of perceived risk."

Example

"In 2009, the Department of Transportation, along with the Times Square Alliance closed several lanes of traffic ‘temporarily’ in the middle of Times Square. Following closure, a thin layer of paint and texture was applied to these areas where removable tables and chairs were placed. The concept was described to NYC public agencies and the public as a reversible “experiment.” Consequently, the space was widely lauded and used, and eventually made permanent by the Bloomberg administration. If Sadik Khan h  ad introduced this idea through the more traditional channels of a massive capital improvement project which would permanently alter a major arterial thoroughfare in Times Square, the changes may not have taken place."

http://codeforamerica.org/2012/01/11/beta-interventions-in-city-government/