Yearly Archives: 2008

The Equity of Housing Tax Benefits

The wide-ranging housing bill recently passed by Congress includes a program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, money for community development, and other measures. One of its important provisions is a one-time tax benefit of $7,500 (or 10% of the home’s purchase price, whichever is less). Unlike many of the existing tax benefits of home ownership, […]

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Preventing Another Subprime Mortgage Crisis

I think this article describes the origins of the mortgage crisis as good as any, and outlines the drawbacks of any bailout. However, I’m interested in the root of the problem. What can we do to minimize the number of foreclosures to begin with? First, a bit on where we are. Although hard facts are […]

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Smart Grid Pilot Program Launched

Over 1,000 D.C. homes are now equipped with smart electrical meters that record their hourly electricity usage, encourage conservation during peak times, and even automatically turn down the heat or A/C when electricity is most expensive. The meters are part of a pilot program starting this week to study how “price signals” can encourage consumers […]

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New York Subway Vs. D.C. Metro

A recent visitor to this website asked this question on a previous post: hello, i am a New Yorker who relocated moved to DC last year. in my decades of riding the NYC subway, at $70/month unlimited rides, I have probably experienced a handful of delays and/or major issues with the tracks. in my one […]

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T. Boone Pickens: Half Right, Half Wrong

Billionaire T. Boone Pickens is getting attention for his highly publicized energy plan for America. Half the plan is spot-on. America needs to switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, like wind or solar. The other half is wrong. He argues we should power our automobiles with domestically-produced natural gas. This will not significantly […]

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Does Beijing Have Too Many Cars?

The skies of Beijing have cleared somewhat after draconian measures have taken effect to curb pollution, which include closing factories and taking roughly half the vehicles off the road. I thought this observation from the Post’s coverage today was interesting: But a few motorists said they hoped the changes would not be temporary. “Ten years […]

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