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Is commercial real estate going to drive the next financial crisis?

Here’s a dark view that may cause more than a few sleepless nights if you’re into economic predictions. I’ve blogged before about the linkage between the failure of the big retail chains and the fate...

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A vignette from the Kahala housing market

On the other side of the Waialae Country Club, there’s an area of large homes along and near the ocean (well, really, most would call these mansions, from small to extremely large). A few also front...

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About those private purpose bonds….

The Maui News recently reported construction of the new West Maui Hospital and Medical Center in Kaanapali has been delayed again, this time by the tax “reform” legislation pending in Washington. The...

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Island tourism in 1928

We wandered into Antique Alley yesterday afternoon. It’s always an adventure. We were looking for one thing, and of course I found something else of interest. Hanging somewhat randomly in the middle of...

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Hawaii tourism at the beginning of 1968

In preparation for yesterday’s panel discussion, I spent some time looking through newspapers published during 1968. Here’s one snippet that caught my eye right away (below). It was January 1, 1968,...

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Spinning the Supreme Court’s recent anti-union ruling

Here’s a little insight into the way investors view the Supreme Court’s recent ruling that requiring non-members to pay agency fees to public employee unions is a violation of the First Amendment. An...

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NY Times calls attention to brothels in condos

Here’s a story from The NY Times that’s very relevant to our situation here in Honolulu (“The New Brothels: How Shady Landlords Play a Key Role in the Sex Trade”). It describes how prostitution is...

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Another story to read & weep

Yes, those GOP tax cuts for the wealthy were bad and continue to shake the U.S. economy, sending the deficit soaring. But ProPublica, in cooperation with The Atlantic, has exposed another huge gift to...

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A picture of Inequality

This was the scene at the end of Kahala Avenue in front of Waialae Beach Park this morning. It was a very typical morning. The house in the background, which sits on about 1/3-acre of land, sold at the...

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Historical statistics of Hawaii

I have a simple recommendation. If you ever find yourself wondering what Hawaii was like in the “old” days and how it changed over time, an extremely useful reference is Robert Schmidt’s “Historical...

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Checking that credit score

Here’s a little bit of consumer info that surprised me. I got an email reminder that our Costco VISA card issued by Citi Bank includes monthly access to our FICO credit score. I thought it might be...

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Do investments in farm lands make things better or worse for farmers?

Here’s a juxtaposition I find deeply disturbing. On the one hand, there have been a spate of recent news stories about the dismal circumstances of farmers in the United States. Here’s one which...

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More on my parents’ 1942 home purchase

Just a few more then-now cost comparisons. My mother kept meticulous household records, including this summary of average monthly costs during 1946, several years after they moved into their new house....

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What’s different this time around?

I’m not sure whether having lived through a series of somewhat similar crises helps or hurts understand and cope with the current coronavirus craziness. We were around as the world dealt with SARS,...

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CMBS could pose risks for some Hawaii’s hotels & retail properties

CMBS. Not exactly a familiar acronym to most of us. It stands for collateralized mortgage-backed securities, which refers to the repackaging of the underlying mortgages beneath hotels, shopping malls,...

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More dark financial clouds surround Honolulu’s rail project

In a blog post on Wednesday, Bob Jones highlighted another problem that Honolulu’s rail system is likely face, if it is ever actually completed. The problem? Live-in homeless. Bob cites how homeless...

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Will hotels join malls on the growing list of deserted former landmarks?

A few years ago, I linked to the review of a photo book featuring dead and abandoned shopping malls, including one in Ohio that was once the largest mall in the country. Changing tastes and...

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I’m trying to process these contrasting realities

What’s wrong with this picture? Here are two factoids drawn from yesterday’s evening news (Tuesday, June 9, 2020). Hawaii News Now reported that Hawaii Foodbank distributed 2,500 boxes of food at Aloha...

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More on the question of our older reinforced concrete buildings

The sudden collapse of the 12-story condominium has prompted lots of talk about the problem of our older buildings and the combined effects of age, deferred maintenance, water intrusion, climate...

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