Nashville Bits and Pieces

[Nathan_in_DC]

2 hours ago, grilled_cheese said:

TWICE A MONTH RECYCLING PICKUP!!!!!WQ

 

itshappening.gif

That's what I have here in the rural-ish part of the UK I live in. Well, sort of. Trash and recycling collection alternate weeks. There are collection centers you can take waste to if you must, but I have to say that it certainly has incentivised recycling separation. 

[Pdt2f]

8 hours ago, Mr_Bond said:

The key solution here is smaller federal governments and less regulation (regulation is one of the primary tools used by established companies to protect themselves from competition).

I do agree that a smaller federal government is part of the solution, but I actually believe that regulation at the state or local level is absolutely necessary. For instance, do you think our mortgage industry would have caused the chaos that it did in the 2000’s if mortgage originators were prohibited from operating more than 50-100 miles away from their headquarters? With such a stake in the health of that one community they would never have engaged in the subprime insanity that they did. Massive, publicly traded transnational companies like AIG, Countrywide Finance, and Lehman did as much, if not more damage than the federal gov could. 

[samsonh]

21 hours ago, ruraljuror said:

US tax receipts increase every year in part as a result of inflation and population growth (except during recession), but I think you'll find that those receipts almost always increase at a slower rate than projected following tax cuts (not to mention the service cuts and debt incurred to offset those underperforming projections).  Don't take my word for it though, there's more than 50 years of data to analyze since Kennedy's 'truth' was revealed.  

Of course, even that 'truth' is somewhat conditional, right?  Kennedy lowered the top tax rate from 91% to 65%, but not all cuts are equally healthy and beneficial.    While it's true that a 350 pound person person may achieve a 30% reduction in body weight through diet and exercise, a 90 pound person would probably have to amputate a limb or two to see that kind of weight loss result.  

That said, I certainly don't expect to change your mind, and I'm happy to get back on topic here - just didn't want to leave your rant unresponded to for fear that passers-by on the board might get the wrong idea and think we were all silently nodding along in agreement here.  

 

 

Yes the Laffer curve he is referring to is junk science. It simply doesn’t work st a certain level of taxation and that makes intuitive sense to most. Below (if it works) I have attached federal tax collections through September. As you can see there is a SHARP dropoff stsrting in January when the new tax law took effect. Ironically this increased deficit spending is a stimulus right now, but is also exploding the government deficit in the later stages of an economic cycle.

[Jamie Hall]

On 10/5/2018 at 2:50 PM, MLBrumby said:

I have come to the realization that TDOT sucks. 

Agreed. TDOT often can't maintain routine lane striping and signage in the urban core. It's frightening to think they'd try to take on new landscaping responsibilities.

[Hey_Hey]

7 hours ago, samsonh said:

Yes the Laffer curve he is referring to is junk science. It simply doesn’t work st a certain level of taxation and that makes intuitive sense to most. Below (if it works) I have attached federal tax collections through September. As you can see there is a SHARP dropoff stsrting in January when the new tax law took effect. Ironically this increased deficit spending is a stimulus right now, but is also exploding the government deficit in the later stages of an economic cycle.

I think there is some truth the Laffer Curve, especially at the extremes and when you look at specific activities and specific taxes like the income tax.   However, people forget that there are two sides to the Laffer Curve. It was famously used to justify cutting rates in the 80s under Reagan and Republicans continue to use the Laffer Curve as the reason why they think revenues will increase with a tax cut.  The top marginal rates before Reagan's tax cuts were around 70%, which is far different from where we sit today.  It is plausible that cutting income tax rates from 70% could increase revenue because rich people would work more.  Today, though, we find ourselves with top rates in the mid-30s.  I strongly suspect we are on the left side of the Laffer Curve at this point, and any lowering of rates would lead to lower overall revenue.  Even the Laffer Curve predicts that really low tax rates will lead to lower tax revenues, so I don't think the Laffer Curve is some diabolical pseudo-economic theory created by conservatives.  However, conservatives have used it repeatedly and inappropriately to claim that ANY and ALL tax cuts lead to increases in revenue. 

Edited October 10, 2018 by Hey_Hey

[samsonh]

6 hours ago, Hey_Hey said:

I think there is some truth the Laffer Curve, especially at the extremes and when you look at specific activities and specific taxes like the income tax.   However, people forget that there are two sides to the Laffer Curve. It was famously used to justify cutting rates in the 80s under Reagan and Republicans continue to use the Laffer Curve as the reason why they think revenues will increase with a tax cut.  The top marginal rates before Reagan's tax cuts were around 70%, which is far different from where we sit today.  It is plausible that cutting income tax rates from 70% could increase revenue because rich people would work more.  Today, though, we find ourselves with top rates in the mid-30s.  I strongly suspect we are on the left side of the Laffer Curve at this point, and any lowering of rates would lead to lower overall revenue.  Even the Laffer Curve predicts that really low tax rates will lead to lower tax revenues, so I don't think the Laffer Curve is some diabolical pseudo-economic theory created by conservatives.  However, conservatives have used it repeatedly and inappropriately to claim that ANY and ALL tax cuts lead to increases in revenue. 

Completely agree with this post. At the extremes incentives change. The revenue change from a top marginal rate of 39.6 to 3x will bring in less revenue. And that has to do with his income is earned. I encourage bond ( or anyone else) to read capital by piketty. 

[Binbin98]

Nashville citywide crime in general is down compared to years prior (except for petty thefts). Even though there was a wave of crime recently over the summer, apparently it was only a wave and not a trend. I hope this shows everyone Nashville is a reasonably safe city to live in and travel to.

https://www.wsmv.com/news/despite-recent-violence-violent-crime-is-down-in-nashville/article_1f989a12-cd07-11e8-ad06-176c9c64c2b3.html 

[CenterHill]

7 hours ago, Binbin98 said:

Nashville citywide crime in general is down compared to years prior (except for petty thefts). Even though there was a wave of crime recently over the summer, apparently it was only a wave and not a trend. I hope this shows everyone Nashville is a reasonably safe city to live in and travel to.

https://www.wsmv.com/news/despite-recent-violence-violent-crime-is-down-in-nashville/article_1f989a12-cd07-11e8-ad06-176c9c64c2b3.html 

 

On the other hand, there's this. 

Quote

 

Metro Police say the number of hit and run crashes are on the rise across Music City. Traffic records show in 2013, there were only 5,100 for the entire year. Now, there have been 5,955 hit-and-runs reported in Nashville since January, with several months left in 2018.

 

https://www.wsmv.com/news/hit-and-run-crashes-on-the-rise-metro-police-finding/article_18468956-cc01-11e8-be08-afc5f61289e9.html

[Mr_Bond]

21 hours ago, samsonh said:

I encourage bond ( or anyone else) to read capital by piketty. 

I've read piketty and various critiques, both for and against (there are plenty to read online), and have concluded that the premise of his book is junk.  It is an anti-capitalist rant and is easily debunked.

Back to the regulation topic, I agree that state regulation is much preferred to federal regulation.

On a related issue, state legislatures need to be large enough so that the members are close to the voters.  For example, the California State Legislature has 120 members.  That is far too few for a state with that population.

[samsonh]

2 hours ago, Mr_Bond said:

I've read piketty and various critiques, both for and against (there are plenty to read online), and have concluded that the premise of his book is junk.  It is an anti-capitalist rant and is easily debunked.

Back to the regulation topic, I agree that state regulation is much preferred to federal regulation.

On a related issue, state legislatures need to be large enough so that the members are close to the voters.  For example, the California State Legislature has 120 members.  That is far too few for a state with that population.

The book is not anti capitalist in the least. Not sure which critique you’ve read, and if you had read the book you would know that it focuses on capital stock, inequality, and growth rates, and the effect of the world wars on all those things. 

 

 

[grilled_cheese]

I wonder if there is a correlation between higher hit and runs and party people/murfreesboro/clarksville people invading the town and the rise in dash cams.

[Mr_Bond]

12 hours ago, samsonh said:

The book is not anti capitalist in the least. Not sure which critique you’ve read, and if you had read the book you would know that it focuses on capital stock, inequality, and growth rates, and the effect of the world wars on all those things. 

Yes, I've read the work.  Yes, Piketty and the book are anti-capitalist because he endorses the state over the free market. 

These articles are a quick read and will give you the free market perspective.

https://mises.org/wire/how-state-worsens-economic-inequality

https://mises.org/wire/hendrickson-dissects-piketty’s-capital-twenty-first-century

https://mises.org/library/inequality-capital-and-problem-piketty

Can we get back to Nashville now?

[samsonh]

Bond, ayn rand institute have no links? 

Edited October 12, 2018 by samsonh

[bigeasy]

On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 2:27 AM, Binbin98 said:

Nashville citywide crime in general is down compared to years prior (except for petty thefts). Even though there was a wave of crime recently over the summer, apparently it was only a wave and not a trend. I hope this shows everyone Nashville is a reasonably safe city to live in and travel to.

https://www.wsmv.com/news/despite-recent-violence-violent-crime-is-down-in-nashville/article_1f989a12-cd07-11e8-ad06-176c9c64c2b3.html 

Seems like I remember a cop telling me that Nashville reports their crimes different than some other metros. So the statistics can be a bit misleading. I am probably going to butcher the explanation, but he said that if a crime has multiple charges that they are all reported as separate incidents. But some other cities would count them as one since it was at the same call. So I think that if for example a domestic involved say a drug charge and robbery, then it would be 3 different crimes. I could have misinterpreted him though, or changed the story over the years. It has been forever since he told me that during a ride along.

[grilled_cheese]

lol @ there being a free market

[markhollin]

Nashville party vehicles fall into a regulatory loophole, with no local oversight.

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2018/10/12/party-bus-nashville-safety-inspection-loophole/1570487002/

[Mr_Bond]

There are many reasons why each of us, the UP-ites, spend time here.  Perhaps you have a love of architecture and design and wish to encourage some decision maker to put more effort and creativity into their project.  You may value your community or neighborhood and want to express ideas on how to make it more livable.  Maybe you have to deal with traffic congestion five days a week and want to see if you can help make your life, and the lives of others, a little less stressful.  And there are many other reasons to spend time here with this group of caring people.

Many/most of these reasons share a common factor: we are fascinated by / concerned with / a part of / seek to influence the same thing: spontaneous social order.  I recently heard some economists (economics is a social science, not a hard science) say that spontaneous social order is the most important and least understood process in all the social sciences.  For evidence of this, note that the Wikipedia page for this topic is rather light compared to the pages of many other scientific processes. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_order

Language is a spontaneous social order.  So is rush hour traffic.  You might find this short video fun and informative:

https://wonderfulloaf.org

[fishsticks176]

I remember a few months ago someone posting on this board that they were nervous about the structural integrity of the rooftop patios added onto some of the historical buildings on broadway, especially given the amount of people up there any given weekend. Well, it looks like the Acme rooftop patio collapsed this weekend. No injuries, though.

[Neigeville2]

5 hours ago, Mr_Bond said:

...

https://wonderfulloaf.org

I tried, but quickly bailed.  My capacity to endure incredibly bad poetry isn't what it used to be.

[titanhog]

1 hour ago, fishsticks176 said:

I remember a few months ago someone posting on this board that they were nervous about the structural integrity of the rooftop patios added onto some of the historical buildings on broadway, especially given the amount of people up there any given weekend. Well, it looks like the Acme rooftop patio collapsed this weekend. No injuries, though.

That was me that had that concern.  They probably all need to make sure they only allow X amount of weight on those roofs...but I have a feeling some go over the limit to make more $$.

[smeagolsfree]

I think several of us had that concern. This is just a wakeup call. 

[fishsticks176]

So a little more information from the Reddit thread I found this on--apparently just the patio decking collapsed and there was no structural damage to the building itself. 

Also from u/BankokPadang:  "I work at an area restaurant that just had our roof evaluated by the City (actually contractors working on behalf of the city, but anyway:) in the hopes of adding our own similar rooftop patio. The actual roof has to Essentially hold 4x the weight of the maximum occupancy, after accounting for everything already on the roof.. The actual calculation isn’t that simple, but that’s what it boils down to. We’re in the same zip as Acme, so I assume it’s all the same rules/regs."

[bhibbs]

anyone have any ideas on this?

[MLBrumby]

Only one I can think of is Tanger. 

And yes... per NBJ: https://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/news/2018/10/15/tanger-cements-land-deal-for-premium-outlet-mall.html

Going to Century Farms. 

Edited October 15, 2018 by MLBrumby

[bhibbs]

2 minutes ago, MLBrumby said:

Only one I can think of is Tanger. 

it is Tanger, Adam just reported that, but, the location is locked behind the paywall

Adam Sichko‏ @NSHBIZSichko 7m7 minutes ago

More

SCOOP: Tanger Outlets signs deal to buy land for one of its premium outlet malls, at this $1.7B Nashville development http://bizj.us/1pqakb  $SKT @TangerOutlets