How the other 2% lives
High Street is the place in Columbus, Ohio where independent stores selling artsy, kitschy, collectible and edible items have most successfully been planted and grown. But all up and down High Street, storefronts selling to the middle class have been vacated. Emack and Bolio’s Ice Cream is history. Men’s clothing stores, gone. Restaurants are cycling through. “For Rent,” “For Lease” read the signs over and over again in an area that a few years ago was brimming with retail activity.
To figure out why some shops on High Street have had to close down isn’t too hard; they were selling interesting and sometimes yummy items that weren’t really necessary, and to pay the high High street rents they had to sell a lot of items. People who don’t have a lot of money to burn pulled back, and up went the “For Rent” signs…
… on some shops, that is. But not all. The New York Times reports today that the very wealthy are still spending lots of cash, making the businesses that cater to them still rather healthy. The swankiest restaurants on High Street here in Columbus — the ones with valet service — are still doing a brisk business to be sure. And a few doors down from Posh Pets, the place for “Ruff Ruff Couture” and designer carriers, comes…
Yes, a bakery for dogs.
While more Americans are losing their houses and declaring bankruptcy and getting by on peanut butter, other Americans’ dogs are generating new business. That’s how the other 2% lives.
i hear that the truckers are planning a massive strike to protest high fuel costs (among other things) and have even begun talking about “nationalizing the oil industry” like Putin did.
Since about 70% of the goods used in this country are delivered by truck, a lengthy strike (”until things change”) would effectively shut down the country within about a week.
Now THAT’s the kind of protest that gets Washingtons attention.
I just wonder what some people think that the government is supposed to do about high gas prices. It’s true that high gas prices are in part due to long-term governmental policies. US deficits have made the US dollar weaker on international markets where oil is bought and sold. Our trade imbalance also makes the US dollar weaker. We have no real energy policy that attempts to reduce oil consumption. The war in Iraq has disrupted oil production in the Middle East.
Price controls would be the worst of all possible answers. We’ve seen time and time again how government control of prices leads to shortages and (in the long run) higher prices. Taxes on gasoline cannot be decreased without severe cuts to the maintenance of our transportation infrastructure.
In a free market, the only way that prices will come down is if supply increases or demand decreases. It’s clear that foreign supply will not be increased. World consumption of oil has increased as other countries such as India and China are modernizing. Oil fields around the world are reaching (or have reached) maximum production. OPEC certainly has no desire to increase production; they want to milk this cash cow as long as possible. Although higher prices will make domestic production increase as once marginally-productive fields become economically viable, at current rates of consumption domestic production (even if we open up ANWR and other offshore areas to drilling) will never be able to meet this demand.
The only way to decrease the price of gasoline is to dramatically decrease our consumption. We need to demand that the government advance the development and availability of alternative energy sources (solar, wind, geothermal, nuclear, etc.). We need to get out of our cars (especially the big gas guzzlers) and start using public transportation. We need to start mandating programs that will decrease energy usage (e.g. compact fluorescent light bulbs, recycling, energy efficient building standards, dramatically increased vehicle gas mileage). No one program will solve this problem, but many small programs, all working in concert, will move our nation to a more energy-efficient and sustainable way of life.