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 above what he’d originally projected. […]
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, cannabis shop or noisy bar […]
“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 one is easy to understand. […]
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 Big Tech! Fair enough. But […]
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 power is coming for the […]
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, provide for your elderly parents, […]
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 Friedman argued that corporate executives […]
Would You Lend Money to This Man?
“I’ll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.” Wimpy Suppose a borrower walks into your office. We’ll call him Sam. Sam earns roughly $56,000 per year. Not extraordinary, but workable. Plenty of borrowers with similar income manage their finances responsibly. Then you open the file. Sam spends approximately $75,000 per year. Before taking on […]
The Fifth Factor
“Capital isn’t scarce; vision is.” Sam Walton Every Economics 101 student learns the four factors of production: land, labor, capital, and entrepreneurship. I’d argue there has always been a fifth: government. Not because government creates wealth. In fact, it’s oftentimes the biggest impediment to wealth creation. Rather, competent government provides the framework that allows wealth to […]
When Good News is Bad
“Interest rates are to asset prices what gravity is to matter.” Warren Buffett May’s jobs report came in much stronger than expected. U.S. payrolls increased by 172,000, easily topping consensus expectations of roughly 85,000, and the prior two months were revised higher by a combined 93,000. With all the hand-wringing over layoffs, recession fears, and […]
