Mark Thoma's Other Blog

Sign of the Times

[I didn't post this on my other blog because I can't figure out if I agree with the implications of what I wrote.]

*****

Morning.

Hi. You look like you're in a better mood today, any reason for that?

The stimulus bill went through, and you know how politicians are, they'll want to put up signs at workplaces announcing where the money for the projects came from, just like the private sector does at its work sites.

So we might get work? Yesterday you were worried about getting through the month.

Looks that way, we've always been able to win these types of contracts in the past -- and it could be enough to carry us through to the other side of the recession. It can't hurt in any case. But we'll have to rehire some of the people we let go when our usual business dried up, or find replacements.

That shouldn't be too hard, I hear most of the people you let go are still looking for work.

So get on the phone and call them. If they are interested, tell them we'll get in touch with them as soon as we get orders for the signs. Let them know we're not sure what will happen after this ends, things could dry up again, but it could bridge the gap until our old customers start returning.

...

Morning.

Hi. Did you see this?

The Great Depression had its red, white and blue “U.S.A. Work Program” signs and the ubiquitous “We Do Our Part” blue eagle emblems, which can still be seen in the credits of films of the era. This recession has green highway signs telling drivers when construction work was paid for by the stimulus program — but not in Georgia, which just became the latest of at least half a dozen states to forgo the signs as a waste of money.

The signs, which proclaim “Project Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” over the red, white, blue and green logo of the stimulus, cost an average of $1,200 apiece in Georgia, said David Spear, the press secretary for the Georgia Department of Transportation. With the state putting up two signs at each project and 119 construction contracts awarded through September, the cost of the signs was adding up. The sign issue became a lightning rod for critics of the stimulus, and many of them complained to the department about their cost.

“The more we reflected on it, the more we realized they were absolutely right: it’s not the best use of the money,” said Mr. Spear, who added that the decision would save tens of thousands of dollars that could be spent on more construction work.

Yes, I heard, and that puts us right back where we were before. Better get on the phone and let everyone know they'll be sitting at home for awhile longer. Let's hope they're still around when things pick back up. Actually, let's hope we're still around when things pick back up. They're good workers - I'd have kept them if I could - and I'd hate to lose them. If we can just get through to the other side of this thing somehow, we'll be okay.

Should I start looking for another place to work?

Compact Parking Puzzle

This is a new parking area at the UO (underneath the new Education building). Why did they designate the spaces in the closest row "compact" instead of just making them as wide as the spaces on the other side? If you look at the lines around the support columns, you'll see that the space between them is of different widths - it's narrower on the upper row of spaces. There's no apparent reason why they couldn't have made the spaces in the closest row just as wide as in the upper row of spaces -- the total  number of spaces is identical in both rows, so they didn't gain a single space from making them narrower (because they can only get three spaces between each of the  evenly spaced sets of columns either way). It doesn't seem to be because of the space available for backing out differs, they simply chose to make one set of spaces smaller and designate them as for compact cars only. Why not make both sets of spaces as wide as possible? They can't possibly think that this will cause people to choose different size cars, can they? I must be missing something obvious.

Please Buy Our Stuff

My dad is visiting, so the TV is on more than usual, especially during the day. The number of ads devoted to the health care needs of the elderly is telling.