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Just Asking

/0 Comments/in , , /by Liam Day

Apparently University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun got into it yesterday, after his team’s win over the University of South Florida, with free lance journalist and self-described political activist Ken Krayeske. Krayeske used the post-game press conference as an opportunity to question Calhoun’s $1.6 million state salary when Connecticut is facing a $944 million deficit this year and a two-year deficit as large as $8 billion. Calhoun shot back (correctly, I might add) that the revenue his team generates for the college and, thus, the state far exceeds what he earns. (Though, I don’t know whether the $12 million figure he threw out is 100% accurate.) Yet, one must ask what it says about our society and its […]

First Nick's Beef and Beer, then Triple D's, now. . .

/1 Comment/in , /by Liam Day

In the Globe’s front-page article this morning about a proposed public market in downtown Boston, there’s the following quote: The recommendations for the indoor public market call for the development of a marketplace similar to Pike Place in Seattle or Reading Terminal in Philadelphia, both highly successful attractions that provide a unique window into the culture of those cities. If the proposed project’s goal is to provide a unique window into Boston’s culture, can we really do better than Haymarket? You haven’t been to Boston until you’ve been yelled at by a Haymarket vendor for daring to test the quality of his produce. Next thing you know, there’ll be talk of converting the Pleasant Cafe to an Upper Crust. Heaven […]

Musings on the Governor's Transportation Plan

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The title above is accurate — these are simply musings because there’s very little specific data available beyond the Governor’s speech and a few powerpoint slides on the You Move Massachusetts website. What really matters is what gets filed. 1) 19 cents is too much, too fast for me. But you might already know that. 2) I can’t believe that heavy rail expansion (including the South Coast Rail Link) gets funded before the MBTA’s State of Good Repair. This is exactly how we got into this mess — expanding the system without the means to maintain it. I understand the politics of the pledge to expand heavy rail, but I’m flabbergasted at the open disregard for what got us here […]

The Thin Blue Line Freezes Out Menino

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UPDATE — As the Herald reports today (and two commenters from the BPPA note below), the inclusion of the EMS Division is a mistake on the part of Yoon campaign. The EMS Division of the BPPA has not endorsed any mayoral candidate or agreed to serve on any host committee. If I understand correctly, an overzealous Yoon campaign took the EMS Division’s campaign donation to Yoon in his role as a city councillor to be an endorsement of his mayoral candidacy. In addition, it sounds like the campaign was initially fuzzy on the nature of the event. I invite the commenters below to add additional information if it is relevant. ORIGINAL POST: Mayor Menino has asked all city unions to […]

Nationalization is Coming

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Its clear that the occasional side conversations are entering the mainstream. Heck, even Lindsay Graham, John McCain, and Alan Greenspan seem to be on-board. There are four assumptions you need to buy into to think this is the ‘least bad’ option: 1) Speed trumps ideology — Part of the nationalization argument says that in order for recovery to begin, we need to flush out the bad loans as soon as possible. The Japanese experience is the lesson here — you can let zombie banks hang around and they will, for a long time, but they won’t provide the capital the economy needs to grow again. 2) Counterparty Risk is primary — This crisis was initially termed a ‘liquidity crisis’, so […]