Author: James A. Bacon
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Virginia Toll Projects and “Loss Aversion”
— James A. Bacon In his book, “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” psychologist and Nobel Prize winner in economics Daniel Kahneman describes the phenomena of “loss aversion” and “reference points.” These deeply embedded cognitive quirks, which had survival value for hunter-gatherers, pose dilemmas for politicians in complex modern societies who try to change the status quo.…
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Factoid of the Day: Virginia’s Biggest Agricultural Customer
Virginia agricultural exports are on a roll, having increased 6% in value in 2011. And our biggest export customer was… Morocco. Yes, that small African country purchased $360 million in Virginia farm and wood products, more than China ($304 million), Canada ($220 million), Switzerland, Egypt, Tunisia, Cuba, Venezuela, Indonesia, or any other country. Top export…
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E-Z as Pie? Not Really.
Brace yourself for a slew of new toll roads in Virginia. E-ZPass will make it a breeze to pay the tolls, but it won’t ease the suspicion that people in “other parts of the state” are getting a sweeter deal.
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Complacency Check: Virginia’s Employment Picture
We can all take some comfort in the fact that Virginia’s unemployment rate has fallen to 5.8%, a three-year low. Only a year ago, unemployment was 6.4%, and it had been as high as 7.2%. Clearly, the economy is strengthening. It would be beastly not to savor the gains for a least a moment. So,…
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Race and Virginia’s Emerging Democratic Majority
by James A. Bacon Virginia is fast reaching a demographic tipping point at which “residents of color” will account for a majority of the state’s population, states a policy brief by the left-leaning Center for American Progress. Since 2000, residents of color have accounted for 76.1% of the state’s population growth. In 2008, 40% of…
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IG of the Day: Exports in Virginia’s Economy
Virginia may boast one of the premier ports on the East Coast and one of the premier international airports in the country, but Virginia’s metropolitan regions are not very plugged into the global economy. According to the Brookings Institution’s “Metropolitan Exports Dashboard,” the percentage of GDP accounted for by exports in the Washington, Hampton Roads and…
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Collapse of the Blue State Governance Model: New York Update
Yeah, Virginia legislators do a lot of stupid stuff, I can’t deny that. Without question, the commonwealth’s governance model is critically flawed. But, to tweak Winston Churchill’s immortal words about democracy, Virginia’s government is the worst in the world — except most of the others. The situation is worse in New York — a lot…
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The “Planning Fallacy” and Virginia Transportation
by James A. Bacon Daniel Kahneman, an eminent psychologist, won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics for his work showing how a key underlying assumption of classical economics — that people behave in an economically rational manner — is demonstrably false. The human brain has evolved cognitive short cuts that served homo sapiens well when survival required…
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One Day, a World of Peace… of Justice… and No Stoplights
One last post before I head off to the sunny south…. Here’s a computer simulation of what a major intersection would look like in a world of self-driving automobiles. Dude, can you imagine life without stoplights? It may be pure fantasy, but I like the fantasy. — JAB
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Cooch Loses a Case, but Hockey-Stick Man Not Off the Hook
The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled against Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli’s bid, on the grounds of investigating fraud, to obtain the email files of former UVa climatologist Michael Mann. The court stated that the university and other state agencies cannot be considered “persons” under the Virginia’s Fraud Against Taxpayers Act. “From the beginning, we…
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Adios, Amigos
Tomorrow, mis amigos, I’m off to the Club Med in sunny Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. I don’t plan to do any blogging, but I will check in periodically to make sure that Peter G. hasn’t launched a Bolshevik putsch in my absence! I’m looking for a total R&R experience — lots of reading, a little…
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Showdown Looming over PLA
The McDonnell administration has warned the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board that a recent decision to favor Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) in Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles construction project could jeopardize $150 million in state funding for the project. Governor Bob McDonnell intends to sign legislation that prohibits state financing for construction projects that…
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An Awesomely Awesome Project for Richmond’s Haxall Canal
Huge news for re-development of downtown Richmond’s Haxall Canal: A deal to convert five historic industrial buildings into retail and residential space is “about to materialize,” reports the Times-Dispatch. Slowly but surely for the past 20 years, developers have been renovating the old industrial shells along the Haxall and Kanawha canals, building a vibrant urban…
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Cooch Still Backs McDonnell on Dulles-Rail PLA
Holy moly, I’m getting whiplash. Last week, word came out of the Attorney General’s office that the Comstock bill, written to ensure that union and non-union companies received equal treatment in state-funded contracts, would not block the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) from favoring a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles…
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Clown Show Update: Now Dems Are in Center Ring
by James A. Bacon First, it was the Republicans’ turn to alienate voters by pushing abortion-related legislation far more radical than a majority of the Virginia electorate was prepared to accept. Now it’s the Democrats’ turn to piss off the public by blocking passage of a state budget. If there was ever a year in…