Business & Economics Archives - The Handbuilt City

us-canadian-border-closure-buffalo-ontario

Biden’s Other Border Crisis: The US Canadian Border

October 12, 2021October 13, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments ambassador bridge, covid, COVID19, detroit river, detroit-windsor trade, joe biden, justin trudeau, matty moroun, moroun's folly, ontario, the perfidy of the moroun family, trade policy, us trade policy, US-Canadian Border, windsor, Windsor-Detroit Tunnel

The US-Canadian border remains closed– and it’s no longer really clear why.

Business & Economics Mobility Culture & Language

Cars, Advertising, and The Cult of Individualism

October 6, 2021October 5, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments advertising, adverts, automobile, bmw, car culture, cars, citroen, commercials, cult of individuality, Ford, general motors, individualism, land rover, marketing, mercedes-benz, mobility, motorcar, nissan, renault, television, tv, volkswagen, volvo

Cars don’t kill people, people kill people! At least, they do when they’re only thinking of themselves– as opposed to the complex ecosystem of different people who use streets and sidewalks. Marketing

Business & Economics Energy Tech

In Irrational Markets, Bitcoin Mining Uses– And Abuses- Local Power

September 29, 2021September 29, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments bitcoin, bitcoin mining, bitcoin mining rig, blockchain, brightridge, crypto, cryptobros, cryptocurrency, dresden ny, economic developer, economic development, environmental impact of bitcoin, greenidge, industrial bitcoin mining operations, market capitalization of bitcoin, rural economic development, the taste that kids crave, upstate new york

Economic development is good, right? Well, perhaps not so much if it involves infuriating local residents with noise or point source air or thermal pollution.

Business & Economics Tech Rural Issues

Amazon, Lifeline or Scourge For Retail-Starved, Rural Communities?

September 21, 2021September 21, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments amazon, amazon prime, Amazon Web Services, distribution facilities, economic development, fedex, free shipping, georgetown maine, jeff bezos, jeff bezos blue origin, logistics, rural, rural economic development, rural juror, sagadahoc county, shipping, ups, USPS, usps dejoy, warehouseing, westport maine, why is fedex so bad

Amazon is committed to a money-losing strategy to try and cop rural market share. But it’s not exactly a great deal for consumers, either. Looking at some examples from Maine and an example from California, we can learn a bit about the challenges facing retail in rural communities as well as how Amazon is (maybe) thinking about this issue.

Business & Economics Policy Mobility

Is It Time For A New Standard For Measuring EV Fuel Efficiency?

September 14, 2021September 14, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments cafe standards, cars, Electric cars, energy policy, epa, epa fuel economy standards, epa fuel standards, fuel, Honda, honda crv, hybrid cars, hybrids, kilowatt, kwh, phev, plug-in electric vehicle, plug-in hybid, rav4, Toyota, toyota rav4, transportation policy, watts

While I was glad to ditch my personal car in August, our household has a new-used car, which we were

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Energy Efficiency Poverty Energy Utilities

Energy Burden: How To Measure? How To Reduce?

September 10, 2021September 10, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments air source heat pump, analytics, CDD, census, census tracts, cooling climate, cooling degree days, decarbonization, EIA, energy, energy efficiency, energy poverty, energy waste reduction, federal poverty line, first energy, HDD, heat pumps, heating climate, heating degree days, LMI, low to moderate income, low-income, metrics, mini-split, pepco, potomac edison, potomac electric power company, program evaluation, red states, reducing energy burden, Rust Belt, smeco, statistics, Tony Reames, urban energy justice lab, utilities, wgl

Measuring energy burden is relatively straightforward. Figuring out how to create robust metrics for it, though– and how to address it- is much more challenging.

Energy Efficiency Urban Planning Poverty Affordable housing Energy

MDHHS and LIHEAP: We’ll Pay For Fossil Fuels. Weatherization, Not So Much.

September 2, 2021September 2, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments Brad Banks, cardi b, CMS energy, coal, coal power, Consumers Energy, DTE, DTE Energy, EE&C, energy efficiency, energy efficiency & conservation, energy waste reduction, fossil fuels, fossil gas, Gretchen Whitmer, LIHEAP, LMI, low to moderate income, low-income, maddy kamalay, michigan, michigan department of health and human services, michigan public service commission, MPSC, Nat Zorach, natural gas, the war on coal, WAP, weatherization assistance program, why is DTE so bad

At an MPSC workgroup meeting this morning on Energy Waste Reduction specifically for the low to moderate income (LMI) market

Business & Economics Mobility Consumer Products

Libert-e-bikes: Marketing Mobility As Freedom

August 25, 2021August 25, 2021 Nat M. Zorach 0 Comments behavioral economics, bicycle, bicycles, bike infrastructure, bikes, cars, CAYMC, cycling, cycling infrastructure, e-bikes, ebikes, economics, electric bicycles, electric bikes, electrification, entfremdung, freedom, liberty, liberty machines, marketing, marx theory of alienation, michael robertson, perceived value, safe streets

Michael Robertson, who founded a peer platform of the ill-fated Napster in 1997, once referred to cars as “liberty machines.” It’s a dominant belief among many car owners. Are eBike companies challenging that assumption in their marketing material?