Eyes on the Prize

Posted on 17 April 2009 by Erik Hare | 17 Comments

The problem with the Left is that they don’t understand the Nazis didn’t set the Reichstag fire.

There’s little I enjoy more than taking an argument to a conclusion just past absurdity. It’s a style better suited for comedy, but it’s also a way of being just a bit demure and disarming. When done well, this technique allows any subject, no matter how taboo, to be talked about in an abstract way. If nothing else, every murder needs an autopsy, and the millions of murders performed by the Nazis require constant analysis so that we don’t allow it to happen again. Ready?

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Transit Planning

Posted on 6 April 2009 by Erik Hare | 10 Comments

We’re strangers who know very little about each other, but we greet each other much like friends. What passes between us is a familiarity gained from a few moments every day on the 74 bus in Saint Paul. Yeah, I know that guy, howyadoin’? That is ultimately the best description of the key characteristic of any good urban transit system – dependability. It is the best possible description of it because it is on terms that are in the hearts of the people who ride it. But what else does a transit system need, in these terms?

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A Fireside Chat

Posted on 16 February 2009 by Erik Hare | 15 Comments

History doesn’t repeat itself. As the cycles rise and fall there are always different circumstances, new actors and a different spirit in the people. Somehow, it seems, we even learn a thing or two along the way. As we confront the possibility of a new Depression we can see that our leaders are responding to it in a way that may make all the difference. First, however, it’s good to take a look back at what worked the last time – and what didn’t.

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Healthy Care

Posted on 6 February 2009 by Erik Hare | 8 Comments

There’s little doubt that one of the most persistent of the crises that we face is in health care. A Rand Corporation study recently concluded that 60% of the care delivered was substandard and that about 25% of the cost goes to administration. This problem is about to become even worse as people lose their jobs and the bennies that come with them.

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Underwrite and Under-Write

Posted on 2 February 2009 by Erik Hare | 6 Comments

Anyone who doubts the potential for a Depression needs to read the newspaper. No, don’t bother with the front page or the business section – skip over to the part that matters. A quick glance at the ads taken out by retail stores shows an amazing number of deep sales, running 50 or even 75 percent off on everything. They’re doing this because the stores are unusually, unreasonably quiet. That’s the defining characteristic of any market failure, whether you’re looking at it from the strip mall or the Capitol Mall. It’s the unusual quiet that comes from everyone staring at each other, shrugging their shoulders.

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