| The Broken Window Fallacy Reapplied
After hurricane Katrina, the Labor Secretary said, "[W]hat will happen — and I have seen this in previous catastrophes and hurricanes — there is a bright spot in that new jobs do get created." And The Economist said, "While big hurricanes like Katrina destroy wealth, they often have a net positive effect on GDP growth, as the temporary downturn immediately after the storm is more than made up for by the burst of economic activity that takes place when the rebuilding begins." And the New York Times said, "Economists point out that although Katrina has destroyed a lot of accumulated wealth, it ultimately will probably have a positive effect on growth data over the next few months as resources are channeled into rebuilding." After last year's California fires, we heard this from Alan Gin, a University of San Diego economist: "In the odd nature of economic accounting, this will probably be a stimulus.
Craigslist or Crimeslist?
In Beaverton, police find a prostitution ring operating in a local motel. And in Gresham, a couple steals and resells utility trailers for years. All of these accused or convicted criminals have one thing in common – they committed their crimes with the help of Craigslist (www.craigslist.org), the wildly popular Web site for buying and selling property and services, as well as finding a job, a roommate or a date. Portland police recently busted a theft ring using Craigslist to sell thousands of dollars worth of stolen property. Following up on a tip that a stolen laptop computer was sold on Craigslist, police served a search warrant on a house in the 9600 block of Southeast Holgate Boulevard and recovered an estimated $30,000 worth of stolen electronic goods, power tools, an LCD TV screen, iPods, car stereos and other consumer products.
The homeless camp and a bad headline
Robert Sexton I have been able to escape the same misfortune that caused me to be homeless and sleeping in my car in both 1987 and 1993. I feel nothing but compassion for these people. My hope is that Bob Apple, Brad Stark, Al French and Mary Verner will help us find a solution. The story was well written and this is a rather tough issue in consideration of the balance needed between lawful residents(neighbors) and homeless people who may soon be in danger because of coldness and lack of food. I would again hope that we can find a solution soon as the weather gets colder quickly. I have been inspired by Dr. Olsen (GUS) and I know that there will likely be others at city council Monday night...Mormons, Lutherans, Catholics and Christians...this is the clarion call for the opportunity to make a difference here in the River City.
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