Newgeography.com - Economic, demographic, and political commentary about places

While Jews often seem clannish to outsiders, the reality is somewhat different: we have always suffered from a divisive streak of self-destructiveness. As far back as the levelling of the Temple and the expulsion from the homeland, Jewish unity has been undermined by both class divisions and theological disagreements.  read more »

What is the purpose of a nation’s economy? Is it to maximize the wealth and power of its governing elites, no matter the consequences for the rest of the population?  read more »

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has released a new metropolitan area delineation. Metropolitan areas are composed of counties.  read more »

Is there any transit construction project that is so expensive that a transit agency will say, “Let’s not do this”? The Antiplanner has argued that the answer is “no”  read more »

Coming from a country that may soon choose to be led by either a cognitively challenged second-rate codger or a vengeful lunatic, one would like to look north, to Canada, for some inspiration.  read more »

It has often been observed that many a new revolutionary idea, no matter how true it turns out to be, looks completely crazy at first. In this post I shall make the case that the idea of factories in the countryside run on part-time jobs falls into that category.  read more »

Xi Jinping should have entered San Francisco’s Apec conference with his tail between his legs, but instead has emerged as something closer to the king of the world.  read more »

When it comes to setting housing targets, rather than threatening local government with the removal of its powers, State premiers would perhaps be better served by ensuring the targets they set are achievable.  read more »

American politics is often said to follow James Carville’s notion that ‘it’s the economy, stupid’. And the economy could well still determine the winner of the 2024 presidential election.  read more »

A new report on housing decries the fact that many unaffordable housing markets have gotten even less affordable in the last few years.  read more »