Recent Streetsblog SF posts about Economics

Meet the Obama Administration’s New Clean Energy Loan Man

By Elana Schor | Nov 11, 2009 | No Comments

The Department of Energy (DoE) yesterday chose venture capitalist Jonathan Silver to head up its loan programs, which include $25 billion in loan guarantees for low-emissions cars and $32 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy projects. Jonathan Silver (Photo: DC Business Journal) Silver may have his work cut out for him on the latter […]

Chrysler: Taking Taxpayer Money and Running Away From Cleaner Cars

By Elana Schor | Nov 11, 2009 | No Comments

(Chart: Chrysler Restructuring Plan) When Chrysler asked the government for a second round of bailout money in February, it submitted a 177-page restructuring plan that vowed to usher in a new era of fuel-efficient vehicles at the famously gas-chugging automaker. The chart above, taken from that restructuring plan, shows six models of electric and hybrid […]

Clinton’s Budget Director Backs Congestion Pricing, VMT Tax

By Elana Schor | Nov 10, 2009 | 1 Comment

Alice Rivlin, now at the Brookings Institution, is one of the capital’s most experienced economic hands. Alice Rivlin (Photo: Brookings) She served as the founding director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and former President Clinton’s budget director before moving on to become vice chairman of the Federal Reserve. During the economic stimulus debate earlier […]

How Bus Transit Can Help the Auto Industry

By Elana Schor | Oct 26, 2009 | No Comments

A map of the companies involved in the supply chain for U.S. transit buses. (Image: EDF) When Vice President Joe Biden visited Minnesota’s New Flyer bus company to tout the economic stimulus law’s $8.4 billion investment in transit, hopes were high for a boom in cleaner-burning vehicle production — which made for some bad press […]

Congestion Pricing: Still Good For Basically Everyone

By Ryan Avent | Oct 13, 2009 | No Comments

Urbanists often find themselves falling into a pattern of thinking that boils down to the dictum that what’s good for drivers must be bad for walkability, and sustainability, and all the things that they prize about well-designed cities. Drivers seem to believe this too, which is interesting because it often isn’t true. What’s good for […]

When $1 Billion Doesn’t Buy What it Used To — And When it Does

By Elana Schor | Oct 8, 2009 | No Comments

Since Washington’s economic recovery debate first began last fall, advocates for greater infrastructure investment have invoked one phrase more often than almost any other: "Every $1 billion spent on transportation creates 47,500 jobs." How many transportation jobs could this $1 billion create? (Photo: Infosthetics) Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) used that […]

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