Is Ted Cruz Satan? Discuss.

[Pretty Little Flower]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

I definitely agree that the restrictions here, and the costs they've created, are a huge problem. Geography is part of it -- SF could never sprawl out like Houston (though I suppose San Jose could) -- but so are bad policies.

But 10% increase in nationwide growth, from having one large city (NY) and two small ones (SF/San Jose) change their building codes? That seems ridiculous.

That's what they said about the internet. "A giant electronic web with virtually unlimited free pornography and funny cat pictures/videos? That seems ridiculous."

Who seems ridiculous now????

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

That's what they said about the internet. "A giant electronic web with virtually unlimited free pornography and funny cat pictures/videos? That seems ridiculous."

Who seems ridiculous now????

Think about it: If we didn't have the Internet, then all of those low-cost contract lawyers and programmers in India wouldn't be nearly as well-positioned. We'd be keeping those jobs here.

Of course, if housing were cheaper in SF, then we could move them all here, pay them 10 times what they make in India, and the work would stay with them. At least, that's what a study showed.

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

Think about it: If we didn't have the Internet, then all of those low-cost contract lawyers and programmers in India wouldn't be nearly as well-positioned. We'd be keeping those jobs here.

Of course, if housing were cheaper in SF, then we could move them all here, pay them 10 times what they make in India, and the work would stay with them. At least, that's what a study showed.

If we didn't have the internet, housing would be a helluva lot cheaper in SF, and there would be hordes of what are now 20 something nerdy anti-social male programmers out joining bike gangs in Texas for something to do.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

If we didn't have the internet, housing would be a helluva lot cheaper in SF, and there would be hordes of what are now 20 something nerdy anti-social male programmers out joining bike gangs in Texas for something to do.

No, because if housing were cheaper here, we'd all be rolling in money. Didn't you read Ty's link?

[Greedy,Greedy,Greedy]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

No, because if housing were cheaper here, we'd all be rolling in money. Didn't you read Ty's link?

Apologies, SF lawyers are more productive than the rest of us so it takes longer for us to catch on. Be patient with us.

RT, you should have moved to SF. You'd be productive like Sidd.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

You like to assign one reason to this: Wages are higher because productivity is higher here.

Okay. I guess waiters, janitors, and bus drivers here are sooo much more productive than in any other city. And lawyers, I-bankers, and hedge fund managers too. So I'll accept the higher productivity as a reason (even as I contradict its existence by posting here).

But, I tend to believe that there are multiple factors that contribute to most results. So, higher costs are one such factor: You have to offer people higher salaries here, because otherwise they won't come here, where they know that $x doesn't go nearly as far as it goes where they live.

I also believe that the higher costs are a bigger part of this. Perhaps your workplace is one where the powers-that-be think, "We could pay our secretaries $x per year, but they are just so much more productive in the Bay Area that we'll voluntarily pay them 150% of $x." I think most businesses would prefer to pay as little as they can to retain people -- and that "as little as" number moves higher when the cost of living moves higher.

Obviously, it's much more complicated than what I said -- I was trying to offer a simple answer to the good question, why would all those people contribute more to GDP if they were in those cities rather than elsewhere?

Since the authors come from Chicago and Berkeley, they probably have anticipated the sorts of reactions you outline -- but I don't know, because I haven't had time to read the thing yet. Maybe on my long flight tomorrow.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Pretty Little Flower

That's what they said about the internet. "A giant electronic web with virtually unlimited free pornography and funny cat pictures/videos? That seems ridiculous."

Who seems ridiculous now????

Soon the fake agent and baby sitter porn memes on youporn will make it impossible for any human male with a computer to engage in normal sexual intercourse, em just won't engage w/o the power imbalance and/or deception. In that sense algore will have been the root cause for the eventual death of America as we now know it

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

You like to assign one reason to this: Wages are higher because productivity is higher here.

Okay. I guess waiters, janitors, and bus drivers here are sooo much more productive than in any other city. And lawyers, I-bankers, and hedge fund managers too. So I'll accept the higher productivity as a reason (even as I contradict its existence by posting here).

But, I tend to believe that there are multiple factors that contribute to most results. So, higher costs are one such factor: You have to offer people higher salaries here, because otherwise they won't come here, where they know that $x doesn't go nearly as far as it goes where they live.

I also believe that the higher costs are a bigger part of this. Perhaps your workplace is one where the powers-that-be think, "We could pay our secretaries $x per year, but they are just so much more productive in the Bay Area that we'll voluntarily pay them 150% of $x." I think most businesses would prefer to pay as little as they can to retain people -- and that "as little as" number moves higher when the cost of living moves higher.

I was living in DC the first time I visited SF. In DC there were too few sane people to populate service jobs. Jobs like rental car shuttle driver were filled with people who were typically fucking nuts. I arrived in SF and got in a shuttle driven by this wonderfully articulate person, someone who would be a manger of something in DC. I just assumed that so many people wanted to live in SF, compared to DC, that people were willing to work jobs "beneath" them. I don't know if that supports or destroys Ty's latest blog, cuz I do not read them.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by Greedy,Greedy,Greedy

But this underlies the problem with the 10% number. All those people need to come from somewhere. SF's loss was Texas' gain, and Goddess knows Texas needs all the help it can get.

That said, I appreciate any attack on zoning, that mindless machine of homogenization that curses our land.

Houston had no zoning when I live there in the early 90s (well, probably before then, too). Most of the residential land use was covered by covenants, which worked out fairly well, once you carved out the racial and religious restrictions. But outside the subdivisions, I grew used to seeing strip malls with a gun shop on one side of the daycare center and a strip club on the other. They would be anchored on each end by a storefront church and a liquor store.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski

In DC there were too few sane people to populate service jobs.

This has been a problem in Australia the last few years. Anyone could make great money in mining minerals to ship to China, so coffee shops and the like could not keep staff.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

This has been a problem in Australia the last few years. Anyone could make great money in mining minerals to ship to China, so coffee shops and the like could not keep staff.

Yep, West Coast. They offer 1 year work visas, my daughter worked there for a year a few back. The visas are structured so people can only work in service jobs.

[Sidd Finch]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Since the authors come from Chicago and Berkeley, they probably have anticipated the sorts of reactions you outline -- but I don't know, because I haven't had time to read the thing yet. Maybe on my long flight tomorrow.

John Yoo is from Berkeley. Just sayin'.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally Posted by Sidd Finch

John Yoo is from Berkeley. Just sayin'.

Excellent point. But Chicago is widely known for turning out brilliant thinkers.

[taxwonk]

Originally Posted by sidd finch

john yoo is from berkeley. Just sayin'.

potd

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally Posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Excellent point. But Chicago is widely known for turning out brilliant thinkers.

I have visited Chicago but never matriculated there- that was limited to Cambridge and New Haven