Market Insights
Capitalism vs Socialism: Do You Know the Difference?
“Words, words, words.” William Shakespeare, Hamlet Words matter. Change their meaning and you can change the debate without changing the facts. Consider “democratic socialism.” Democracy sounds good. Fairness sounds good. Helping people sounds good. What could possibly go wrong? Before answering, let’s ask a simpler question: What is socialism? Capitalism
When Is Expensive Money Actually Cheap?
“The money was not capital, under the circumstances, because it could not be used to produce anything.” — David A. Wells, Robinson Crusoe’s Money Investors have an understandable obsession with interest rates. 7% is better than 10%. 10% is better than 12%. And 12% is certainly better than 15%. It’s
From Bridge to Bankable: What Lenders Need to See Before an Investor Can Refinance
From Bridge to Bankable: What Lenders Need to See Before an Investor Can Refinance A few months ago I got a call from an investor about six weeks out from a bridge loan maturity, already frustrated. He’d finished a small multifamily rehab, four units, all fully renovated. Two were leased
Everything You “Know” About Data Centers is BS—Part IV
Everybody wants the future. Nobody wants the infrastructure required to build it. Part III followed the jobs. For the finale, let’s deal with the criticism I find most persuasive: “I don’t want one next door.” Fair enough. Neither do I. I also don’t want a factory, power plant, strip club,
“This process of Creative Destruction is the essential fact about capitalism.” Joseph Schumpeter Part II followed the money. Now let’s follow the jobs. The criticism comes in two forms: First, data centers don’t create any meaningful jobs and, second, the AI they power is about to destroy yours. That second
Everything You “Know” About Data Centers is Bullxxxt—Part II of IV
This isn’t politics. It isn’t ideology. It’s arithmetic: did the benefits exceed the costs? Part I dealt with power, electric bills, water and pollution. Now follow the money. The complaint is familiar: Why are states and local governments giving tax breaks to Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft? Corporate welfare for
Everything You “Know” About Data Centers is BS
Prosperous economies use lots of energy. Poor ones don’t. Data centers have become one of America’s favorite bogeymen. Depending on which headline you read, they’re sucking up our electricity, jacking up power bills, draining our water, polluting the air, collecting corporate welfare, creating no jobs — and the AI they
Capitalism: Voracity or Virtue?
“None of us are greedy—it’s only the other fella who’s greedy.” Milton Friedman Gordon Gekko, the antagonist of the 1987 film Wall Street, infamously declared, “Greed is good.” But what, exactly, is greed? Is it greedy to want to live in a safe neighborhood, send your children to good schools,
Shareholders or Stakeholders?
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Matthew 6:24 In his famous 1970 New York Times Magazine essay, The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits, Milton
