Nicole Gelinas [164 titles]

1. Eurocrash
   Despite its promises, a common currency might be holding the Continent back.
   Summer 2010
2. Bell’s Debt Tolls
   The California city’s problems go beyond a $787,637 man.
   6 August 2010
3. Gotham’s Capital Chance
   New York is missing a once-in-a-generation opportunity to seize a competitive advantage.
   13 July 2010
4. Surveying the Wreckage
   What can we learn from the top books on the financial crisis?
   Summer 2010
5. Don’t Prop Up BP
   The president should stop claiming that the company is “strong and viable.”
   17 June 2010
6. Who’s Resurrecting New Orleans?
   Mitch Landrieu sees a problem that city government can fix.
   Spring 2010
7. Why Enron Couldn’t Take Manhattan
   New Yorkers don’t go to the theater for 3D restagings of 9/11.
   13 May 2010
8. Beware the Muni-Bond Bubble
   Investors are kidding themselves if they think that states and cities can’t fail.
   Spring 2010
9. Supply-Side Financial Reform
   Congress should unleash free markets to help protect consumers.
   8 March 2010
10. Eminent Domain as Central Planning
    Wielding creative definitions of blight, New York runs roughshod over property rights and uproots viable neighborhoods.
    Winter 2010
11. My Big Fat Greek Restructuring
    Greece can help itself, and the West, by resisting a bailout.
    16 February 2010
12. Deriving the Truth
    Brooksley Born wants the public—and Wall Street—to understand unregulated derivatives’ role in the crisis.
    14 January 2010
13. Global Finance’s State of Nature
    Ambitions for a new world order are no match for national interest.
    Autumn 2009
14. Arguing the Economy
    A recent debate highlights the weaknesses of Obamanomics.
    18 November 2009
15. The Bear Truth
    Criminal prosecutions won’t fix finance.
    11 November 2009
16. Bloomberg at the Warning Track
    There are no indispensable mayors.
    4 November 2009
17. Our Subprime Federal Government
    President Obama’s mortgage plan imitates the lenders who inflated the housing bubble.
    20 October 2009
18. The Downtown Development Drag
    6 October 2009
19. Global Warning
    Iceland’s failed banks offer the West a lesson.
    17 September 2009
20. Krugman, Keynes, and Ketchup
    The Times columnist offers exactly the wrong fix for the financial crisis.
    9 September 2009
21. Failing Up
    The government is endangering the FDIC’s crucial role in market discipline.
    1 September 2009
22. “Too Big to Fail” Must Die
    If we continue to subsidize irresponsible risk-taking, we’ll just get more of it.
    Summer 2009
23. Express Track to New York’s Tomorrow?
    Mayor Bloomberg makes a fresh start on transit.
    6 August 2009
24. Transit for Tomorrow
    The MTA’s labor costs are crowding out money for a twenty-first-century system.
    8 July 2009
25. A Better, Simpler Financial Fix
    Markets don’t need more regulatory discretion; they need clear limits on risk-taking.
    19 June 2009
26. Spendthrift Sunbelt States
    Arizona, Florida, and Nevada have run through the riches of their boom and are starting to look more like cash-strapped New York.
    Spring 2009
27. The Perils of P-PIP
    Waste, fraud, and abuse: not just for defense contractors any more
    7 April 2009
28. Baying for AIG Blood
    A bankruptcy—even a brutal one—could have been better than this.
    23 March 2009
29. Jindal’s Missed Opportunity
    Who better to offer a lesson in what government should do?
    25 February 2009
30. The Developers’ Bailout
    Propping up politically connected real estate won’t help New York.
    24 February 2009
31. Public-Private Peril
    Under Geithner’s plan, the private sector leaps into bed with the feds.
    11 February 2009
32. Cap and Bail
    The government’s new limit on executive pay is a symptom, not a problem.
    5 February 2009
33. Stimulating Some Thinking
    Get the infrastructure part of the recovery package right.
    2 February 2009
34. The President’s First Roadblock
    Yes, we can invest wisely in infrastructure—but how?
    23 January 2009
35. Can the Feds Uncrunch Credit?
    Maybe—but Washington’s unprecedented interventions could make things much, much worse.
    Winter 2009
36. Stalling Out
    Good leadership—from someone willing to address public-sector benefits costs—can save New York from Detroit’s fate.
    14 January 2009
37. Gotham’s Problems Are Camelot-Proof
    Neither Caroline Kennedy nor Washington, DC can solve New York’s fiscal crisis.
    6 January 2009
38. A Tale of Two Paulsons
    The free market is dead; long live the free market.
    21 November 2008
39. Paulson Bails Out the Bailout
    If at first it won’t succeed . . .
    12 November 2008
40. Notes on the Election
    City Journal writers reflect on Tuesday’s results and on the implications of an Obama presidency.
    7 November 2008
41. Bloomberg’s Missed Chance
    The mayor should have asked the city’s biggest labor union for some concessions.
    4 November 2008
42. Sheltering Speculation
    How we could have contained the housing bubble
    29 October 2008
43. Gotham’s “Uncontrollable” Crisis
    Autumn 2008
44. Storm-Proofing the Economy
    We can’t prevent Wall Street turmoil, but we can make it less destructive.
    Autumn 2008
45. Senator Uncertainty
    McCain’s mortgage proposal contradicts the Paulson plan he just endorsed.
    10 October 2008
46. A Better Bailout
    The feds are finally shoring up the foundation of the credit markets.
    7 October 2008
47. Wall Street Explodes
    Background reading from City Journal’s writers
    1 October 2008
48. Five Questions About the Bailout . . .
    . . . if Congress hasn’t passed it by the time you read this.
    26 September 2008
49. Mark-to-Market Isn’t to Blame
    Blaming fair-value accounting for banking misadventures is like criticizing the newspaper for reporting a murder.
    25 September 2008
50. Throwing Bad Debt After Bad—Again!
    Incredibly, Congress still wants to make dangerous loans.
    18 September 2008
51. Construction Safety Woes
    More building shouldn’t mean more deaths.
    Summer 2008
52. Going for Broke
    In bailing out Fannie and Freddie, the feds up the ante on a bet that they may not be able to cover.
    11 September 2008
53. Driving Lessons
    Honk if you want to know just how complicated automobile safety is.
    5 September 2008
54. Katrina, Three Years Later
    Surrounded by both progress and despair, New Orleanians soldier on.
    28 August 2008
55. Andrew Cuomo’s Civil Approach
    Where Eliot Spitzer produced headlines, the new AG produces results.
    12 August 2008
56. New York’s Next Fiscal Crisis
    Mayor Bloomberg needs to prepare the city for the crash of the Wall Street gravy train.
    Summer 2008
57. America, Too Big to Fail . . . Probably
    The feds can bail out Fannie and Freddie, but who will bail out the feds?
    16 July 2008
58. New Twin Towers?
    It may not be too late.
    6 July 2008
59. Tangled Power Lines
    It’s time Con Ed had a long-term capital improvement plan.
    30 June 2008
60. Boston Battles Foreclosures
    But Beantown isn’t home free yet.
    Spring 2008
61. Stock Characters
    Two centuries’ worth of Wall Street highs and lows
    6 June 2008
62. Leave Jindal Alone!
    If John McCain wants to help Louisiana, he should let its governor stay there.
    22 May 2008
63. The Big Easy Rebuilds, Bottom Up
    Ordinary New Orleanians restore their city, avoiding lower Manhattan’s master-planned debacle.
    Spring 2008
64. Matters of Trust
    What’s wrong with giving homeowners a New York–style bailout
    14 May 2008
65. A Safe Haven for Investors
    American regulations protect account holders from around the world; will policymakers thwart them?
    29 April 2008
66. Words Not Deeds
    Governor Paterson’s promising speech—and enormous budget
    14 April 2008
67. A Feckless Foreclosure Fix
    Just the first of many pernicious bailouts
    7 April 2008
68. Memo to Governor Paterson
    Don’t wait for the Wall Street crisis to worsen—start cutting now.
    18 March 2008
69. New York Gets Steamrolled
    The state must recover from Spitzer’s transgressions quickly.
    11 March 2008
70. Criminalizing Capitalism
    Six years after Enron, executives face greater risks—but investors are no safer.
    Winter 2008
71. Mitt Romney’s Smart Tax Plan
    Investment-friendly tax cuts, not one-time rebates
    31 January 2008
72. Don’t Foreclose the Possibilities
    The mortgage meltdown doesn’t have to cause a 1970s replay in Gotham.
    25 January 2008
73. For Whom the Roads Toll
    Under Governor Corzine’s bad plan, toll hikes will pay down New Jersey’s debt.
    14 January 2008
74. Intellectual’s Survival Guide
    Cass Sunstein wants us to reconsider how we assess the risk of catastrophes.
    4 January 2008
75. Banks, Shot
    Wall Street—and New York—face a challenging 2008.
    2 January 2008
76. The Best Disinfectant
    Project Sunlight, a voter-information website with great promise
    19 December 2007
77. Henry Paulson’s Mortgage Mulligan
    A new subprime debacle
    3 December 2007
78. Super SIV to the Rescue?
    The banks’ second thoughts on securitizations may signal a long credit crunch.
    8 November 2007
79. Lessons of Boston’s Big Dig
    America’s most ambitious infrastructure project inspired engineering marvels—and colossal mismanagement.
    Autumn 2007
80. San Diego Saints
    California’s wildfire response took a page from Houston’s playbook, not New Orleans’s.
    30 October 2007
81. Are Poor Students Worth More?
    New York’s schools chancellor thinks so, but taxpayers may disagree.
    16 October 2007
82. Foul-Weather Friends
    Congress knows its hurricane politics, if not its economics.
    4 October 2007
83. Lower Manhattan’s Next Challenge
    In an economic downturn, could downtown survive grabby politicians?
    11 September 2007
84. The Most Dangerous City
    Two years after Katrina, New Orleans desperately needs law and order.
    28 August 2007
85. An Inconvenient Solution
    Carbon trading, the increasingly accepted answer to global warming, will cost far more than we’re being told.
    Summer 2007
86. Notes from the Underground
    A company maintaining the Tube gets off the train early—and provides useful lessons for the U.S.
    23 August 2007
87. The Crumbling of America
    Our precious infrastructure inheritance and how we’re squandering it
    3 August 2007
88. John Edwards’s Tax Muddle
    Under his plan, not only the rich would get soaked.
    31 July 2007
89. DC’s Freddy Ferrer Tax
    The spirit of New York’s failed mayoral candidate lives on in Washington.
    17 July 2007
90. NY’s Mini-Blackout Warning
    The city’s physical infrastructure desperately needs renewal.
    29 June 2007
91. Rewriting Ground Zero’s Reality
    Will New York’s heroic post-9/11 legacy permanently fracture into ugly accusations?
    27 June 2007
92. Patronizing the Poor
    According to the Bloomberg administration, the poor won’t act in their own best interest unless they’re paid to do so.
    21 June 2007
93. Shop ’Til You Drop
    Benjamin Barber, consumed by his own book
    18 June 2007
94. The Obstacle to Bloomberg’s Master Plan
    It’s called the MTA.
    8 June 2007
95. HillaryCare for Tots
    Billions of dollars for kids—and for unions, of course
    25 May 2007
96. Obama’s “Health Care for Hybrids”
    A bad idea
    9 May 2007
97. The Other Green in Bloomberg’s Plan
    Money.
    24 April 2007
98. Mass Murder, Martyrdom, and the Media
    The Virginia Tech killer expertly manipulated NBC and its competitors.
    19 April 2007
99. How Not to Save the Middle Class
    A new study offers “solutions” that will only make life costlier for New Yorkers.
    6 April 2007
100. Baghdad on the Bayou
     To recover from Katrina, New Orleans must defeat the criminals who terrorize its streets.
     Spring 2007
101. Many Happy Returns
     Activist investors may face some Chinese competition.
     Spring 2007
102. The Foundations That Wouldn’t Die
     What Bill Gates can learn from Andrew Carnegie and Andrew Mellon
     30 March 2007
103. Congress to the Rescue?
     A decidedly sub-prime idea for the housing market
     16 March 2007
104. Don’t Knock Down New Orleans’s Projects
     Just sell them off to middle-class homeowners.
     23 February 2007
105. The JetBlue Way
     Flying the friendly skies—probably.
     20 February 2007
106. Spitzer’s Radical Medicaid Surgery?
     It’s really a placebo, but you wouldn’t know it from union screaming.
     8 February 2007
107. Wall Street Worries
     New York should heed (some of) McKinsey’s suggestions.
     22 January 2007
108. Help Us, Governor Spitzer!
     This crusading reformer has his work cut out for him.
     Winter 2007
109. Bonus Boom, But . . .
     Goldman’s stellar results and Gotham
     Winter 2007
110. Kill Off Atlantic Yards
     The Forest City/Ratner project is everything that’s wrong with the Empire State.
     19 December 2006
111. The BoNY-Mellon Merger
     Is it good for Gotham?
     7 December 2006
112. Who Will Run Albany?
     Spitzer or Silver?
     8 November 2006
113. A Social-Uplift Program That Works
     The Queens Library’s secret: help those who help themselves
     Autumn 2006
114. CUNY’s Virtuous Circle
     Donors reward a return to high standards.
     Autumn 2006
115. New York Isn’t Mexico
     The problem with Bloomberg’s cash-transfer program
     20 October 2006
116. Freeing Us from the Freedom Tower
     The Port Authority should save the worst for last.
     21 September 2006
117. Katrina’s Real Lesson
     Blame inadequate infrastructure, not poverty, for the storm’s devastation.
     28 August 2006
118. Spare Some Electricity, Mr. Mayor?
     No—too boring for Bloomberg.
     25 July 2006
119. The MTA and the MTA
     Does New York do better than Boston?
     14 July 2006
120. Is There a New York Housing Crisis?
     Only when government creates one—as Mayor Bloomberg is doing now.
     Summer 2006
121. Stop Storm Dallying
     Unprepared Long Island risks serious hurricane damage.
     Summer 2006
122. Subverting the War on Terror
     Contrary to the Times, the Bush administration did have permission to monitor suspected terrorist banking transactions.
     27 June 2006
123. Homeland Insecurity
     Missing landmarks aren’t the problem.
     2 June 2006
124. Not NYSE for New York
     The stock exchange’s bid for Europe’s stock markets isn’t good news for Gotham.
     24 May 2006
125. Downtown Rising
     Despite Pataki and Bloomberg, the private sector is fixing lower Manhattan.
     23 May 2006
126. Did the Big Easy’s Election Matter?
     New Orleanians don’t seem to know what they want from a leader.
     22 May 2006
127. Half a Loaf at Ground Zero
     Has the Port Authority offered developer Larry Silverstein a fair deal to rebuild the World Trade Center?
     26 April 2006
128. Katrina Kids Suffering?
     Yes, in part thanks to FEMA’s insta-ghettos.
     20 April 2006
129. Crimes and Motives
     Does it matter how violent criminals choose their victims?
     12 April 2006
130. Choreographing a New Budget Dance
     How Bloomberg should shake it up.
     7 April 2006
131. Houston’s Noble Experiment
     Can good government uplift the New Orleans evacuees whom bad government harmed?
     Spring 2006
132. Downtown Rising
     Despite Pataki and Bloomberg, the private sector is fixing lower Manhattan.
     Spring 2006
133. Criminal Negligence
     The feds are paying to rebuild New Orleans on a civic swamp.
     Spring 2006
134. Financial Follies at Ground Zero
     Or are they political follies?
     22 March 2006
135. Criminal Negligence
     The feds are paying to rebuild New Orleans on a civic swamp.
     8 March 2006
136. Reconstructing New Orleans
     Let homeowners serve as the ground troops.
     3 February 2006
137. Why Didn’t Anyone Save Nixzmary?
     Or Josiah, or Dahquay, or Sierra?
     18 January 2006
138. Katrina Refugees Shoot Up Houston
     FEMA should help the Texas city control its crime spike.
     4 January 2006
139. Gotham Needs Wall Street; Does Wall Street Need Gotham?
     New York’s leaders don’t understand how precarious the city’s prosperity is.
     Winter 2006
140. Transit Strike Lessons
     The public-employee shakedown of taxpayers can’t go on.
     Winter 2006
141. Mayor Bloomberg: Get the Buses Running.
     And save New York from a slow-motion economic disaster.
     21 December 2005
142. It’s Time to Privatize Gotham’s Buses
     Striking TWU workers show the danger of a single monopoly system.
     19 December 2005
143. Putting Teeth in the Taylor Law
     In the event of a transit strike, New York pols must hang tough.
     14 December 2005
144. Solving the President’s New Orleans Problem
     Feds should set the direction for recovery.
     11 November 2005
145. A Fair Fare
     The MTA should spread its holiday cheer year-round.
     20 October 2005
146. Who’s Killing New Orleans?
     It’s hard to worry about racism and poverty after you’ve been murdered.
     Autumn 2005
147. They’re Taking Away Your Property for What?
     The Court’s eminent-domain ruling is useless as well as unjust.
     Autumn 2005
148. A Perfect Storm of Lawlessness
     New Orleans’ vicious looters aren’t the real face of the city’s poor—their victims are.
     1 September 2005
149. Will New Orleans Recover?
     Weak and struggling before Katrina, the good-time city now teeters on the brink.
     31 August 2005
150. Bulldozing Small Businesses
     Three Democratic mayoral candidates would willfully destroy small businesses in Brooklyn—and they’re only going along with the Republican mayor’s plan.
     24 August 2005
151. How Not to Fight Urban Terror
     The mayor wants New Yorkers to use their eyes and ears—but his fuss over last weekend’s tour-bus kerfuffle will dissuade them.
     29 July 2005
152. Through a Tunnel Darkly
     Governor Pataki should shine a searchlight on MTA security.
     19 July 2005
153. Phew, No Olympic Gold for New York
     Believe it or not, New York was too capitalist to win.
     7 July 2005
154. A Feasible Fix for Social Security
     Our recipe for saving the system, protecting the poor, and boosting the investor class
     Summer 2005
155. Cheating Great Teachers
     It's past time for merit pay for Gotham's public school teachers.
     Summer 2005
156. Imminent domain?
     Not yet. It’s not too late for state politicians to stop themselves from stealing New Yorkers’ property.
     30 June 2005
157. Harlem Kids Rising
     Gotham’s first generation of charter-school kids is on its way to middle school.
     27 June 2005
158. Cheating Great Teachers
     It’s past time for merit pay for Gotham’s public school teachers
     16 June 2005
159. West Side Profits?
     Maybe, but let private investors take the risk.
     3 June 2005
160. Criminal Mischief
     The New York Times romanticizes violent felons into impulsive hipsters.
     24 May 2005
161. How to Save the Subways—Before It’s Too Late
     Gotham’s critical lifeline is a wreck.
     Spring 2005
162. Pension Funds vs. Free Speech
     Public retirement-fund trustees try to stifle debate on Social Security reform.
     30 March 2005
163. Corporate America’s New Stealth Raiders
     Union-dominated public pension funds seek to control the boardroom.
     Winter 2005
164. Where’s All the School Money Going?
     New York City Council’s Eva Moskowitz asks some tough questions about the city’s education spending.
     18 May 2005

After The Fall: Saving Capitalism From Wall Street—and Washington

by Nicole Gelinas