Economics: supply and demand
For those of you who’ve been in a cave recently (and one without internet access), United Airlines recently encountered a situation where they had too few people who were willing to give up their...
Time for tax reform
Not since the days of Ronald Reagan, Bill Bradley and Jack Kemp has a wholesale overhaul of America’s tax code been as seriously considered as it is today. But with President Trump in the...
Follow thy prospect
The growth of new websites is hyperbolic with an estimated 140 thousand websites launching each day. Digital ad sales for the first half of 2016 was a record-breaking $32.7 billion dollars, up 19 percent...
The ever-prescient landlord
In August 2016, Seattle, Wash., a city where the U.S. Census bureau estimates that 48 percent of the population are renters, the city council revised its open housing ordinance to include “first-in-time, first-in-line” provisions....
Net neutrality: the real story
Since Donald Trump’s election, the rhetoric surrounding net neutrality’s imminent demise has been frenzied. Every move by newly appointed Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Ajit Pai generates a chorus of consumer advocates bemoaning the...
The real deal on getting bumped
A total of 928.9 million domestic and international travelers flew on U.S. and foreign air carriers in 2016, beating the previous record of 897.9 million in 2015, according to the Department of Transportation (DOT). The...
Philanthropy in America is becoming an ideological arms race, says author
Many have become philanthropists, and they are reshaping public policy, and society, as they see fit. And because of their numbers, they have far more influence than the philanthropists of the past, argues David...
Taking the Internet of Things beyond four walls
The idea of a smart home is an appealing one. Light switches that turn on and off when you enter or leave a room, or heating that knows what time you’ll be home and...
Multifamily construction loans are harder to find
“We are still finding attractive options for good projects where the economics pencil,” says Jeff Sause, director with capital services provider HFF. “There is money out there if you look hard enough.” Bank lenders—the traditional...
How the homeownership crunch cost the U.S. $300 billion last year
The reasons for the shift in housing patterns are numerous, ranging from the demographic (delayed marriage) to the financial (fast rising home prices). Of course, the intervening years included the foreclosure crisis which forced...
Which amenities matter to renters?
As the building boom in downtown Chicago rolls well into another year, competition among developers in attracting new renters has hit a fever pitch. Nearly 6,600 apartments are scheduled for delivery this year in...
In Baltimore, Under Armour’s owner makes a $5.5 billion bet on his city
It wasn’t just the luxurious look of the 128-room hotel that made news. The building, once featured on the television show Homicide, part of the string of true-crime dramas that have given many an...
Face-to-face is 34 times more successful than email
Despite the reach of email, asking in person is the significantly more effective approach; you need to ask six people in person to equal the power of a 200-recipient email blast. Still, most people...
Cool heads prevail
I recently stood in front of an executive team, allowing their unproductive to-ing and fro-ing to continue a little longer. It was a gold mine of examples I could use to teach them how...
The U.S. apartment boom, measured in construction cranes
Sightseers in Chicago should keep their eyes open for cranes—the towering, metal kind. The Windy City has more cranes for residential projects currently dotting its skyline than 11 other major U.S. cities, according to the...
