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askmeaboutmysciatica t1_jd2glcz wrote

Reply to comment by Gnarlsaurus_Sketch in Let's pour one out for the developers of Pittsburgh by PublicCommenter

Found the developer

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waddersandwich t1_jd38ilw wrote

Not all developers are bad. Pittsburgh just makes you think they are because it's only the huge, mega-corporation, conglomerate developers that have the resources and cash to get anything done. And those developers suck soooo much. Pittsburgh zoning all but eliminates small-time developers who really do want to improve their communities. Compared to other cities, it's absolutely insane. Cities need development and when the only ones who can afford it are the plain Jane corporations that only care about dollars in their spreadsheet, you get a shitty, boring city.

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Gnarlsaurus_Sketch t1_jd3jd0s wrote

Exactly what burdensome fees, abysmal zoning, unpredictable government response, and a regulatory quagmire of a review process tends to do.

Pittsburgh's relatively low housing prices also limit potential profit, so along with the fees and unpredictable review process, the only way to reliably profit is to go very large scale and exploit local political connections.

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Gnarlsaurus_Sketch t1_jd2hl5t wrote

Gainey has been in over his head since he took office, and the foundering hasn’t improved over time. Classic one term and done mayor.

Ever take an economics class?

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jd2sjf2 wrote

> Ever take an economics class?

Ah, economics, the "science" that assumes everyone is a perfectly rational actor that does exactly what is best for themselves every single time.

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Gnarlsaurus_Sketch t1_jd2xftw wrote

Behavioral economics makes very different assumptions than the rational choice theory you're describing. Also, many if not most seemingly irrational decisions can be explained by incomplete access to information or people valuing money differently.

Yours is a common and, to some extent, valid criticism of classical and neoclassical economics. That said, don't throw the baby out with the bath water here.

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jd2xw51 wrote

Economics exists as a "science" to backfill an explanation for what the capital-holding classes want to do anyway. You know that and I know that.
 
My favorite economics story is from the book Princes of the Yen, wherein Japan sent their youngest and brightest minds to Chicago to learn economics, and they took what they learned there and trashed the Japanese economy for over three decades and counting. Good stuff.

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Gnarlsaurus_Sketch t1_jd31k2r wrote

>capital-holding classes

lol, that's a loaded phrase if I ever saw one. I've been called worse.

I'd chalk Japan's lost decades up to too much micromanaging by the Bank of Japan, a liquidity trap, and bad demographics (birthrate too low).

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69FunnyNumberGuy420 t1_jd31ujj wrote

> I'd chalk Japan's lost decades up to too much micromanaging by the Bank of Japan,

 
Read the book, the entire issue started when the Chicago School guys came back and said BoJ meddled too much that they had to move to a "free market" solution since those were the only thing that worked. Whoops!
https://www.amazon.com/Princes-Yen-Central-Bankers-Transformation/dp/0765610493
 
Prior to the 1980s Japan had basically a command economy pointed towards producing consumer goods.

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