Still Dark

...But I'm not so humble that I don't assume everyone wants to hear at least something from me, so here's some part of the scoop:


Washington, D.C. is the greatest city I've ever seen - it's like a theme park that you can live in that has a sign outside the entrance that says, "You must be this informed and/or concerned to ride." In other words, the high cost of living paired with the huge number of government employers acts as a filter, allowing only those with reasonably valuable skills, knowledge and/or lifestyles to live in and around the city.

I'm not saying it's fair for government to monopolize the D.C. area and crowd out the uninvolved, but the end result is just too exciting to challenge - the city is so full of concerned political junkies, policy wonks, college students and the full spectrum of people who disagree with each other passionately that the cause of their grouping is unimportant.

Besides, if the transaction costs were low enough, we'd all move to a "theme" city, wouldn't we? Seattle could be the town for coffee & grunge junkies, Las Vegas for the gambling aficionados, San Diego for lovers of the ocean, Nashville and Austin for country & rock stars, respectively, New York for the financial types, D.C. for politicos, New Orleans for construction fanatics (think Big Levee Project), Orlando for theme park fans, Montgomery for racists (am I kidding?), Kansas City for gangsters (I hear rumors...), Portland for hippies and, after we've spent our lives living out the themes of our dreams, we'll all retire and spend the rest of our lives in "The Country's Death Bed," AKA Phoenix (or Prescott... or Tucson...)

It's a shame, really, that citizens can't (or won't) read the subtle signals of a city's theme and convert it into an overt advertisement. I mean, really, if you're a country singer, you'd probably be better off living in Tennessee, right? If you're obsessed with futures markets, move to Chicago. If you love economics and matters of public policy, move to D.C. ...And, for the record, we'll see how that works out for yours truly in the coming weeks...

My point, ultimately, is that living in a place to do more than just live is - possibly - a great thing. I mean, why limit the quantity of possible friends within your city that fit your criteria and share your interests? Sure, you might not be able to find as good a job in Orlando, Florida, but wouldn't you be willing to take a cut in your income to be so close to Universal Studios, Disney World and Cape Canaveral, if you happened to love movies, Splash Mountain and space shuttles, and especially other people who shared these interests?

Yes, you would.

I forgot why I started talking about any of this. My point, I believe, which was lost a while back, was going to be that D.C. is not just a theme city, but one that is themed on the work that people in the city do. D.C. (government) employers will more than likely pay you more to move to the city instead of the other way around (like if you work for the financial sector but really love Splash Mountain, your income might decrease if you try to move from New York to Orlando...)

So come on, people, go find a theme city that'll pay you to play along... And if great Mexican food, cheap beer, national defense (Raytheon & Ionatron) and extremely hot women in short shorts all happen to fit your favorite theme, there's a place for you here in Tucson. Come to think of it, I might miss this place if I leave...



Anyways, back to vacation - I'll be on Official Thanksgiving Blog Leave throughout the week, and I assume the same goes for all four hundred of my readers... (Because I'm not paying those Chinese professional blog-readers to read this thing when I'm not going to be posting, dammit!)

Yes, I admit it - I pay Chinese people to read my blog. They don't comment, though, because that costs extra. Also, they put too much lead in their comments.



You know, for a non-post, that sure was a long post.

I need to add one more thing, though, before I become extremely lazy (lazier) for a week:

To the two people I hung out with in D.C. who were incredibly (and are always) generous, entertaining, and awesome people - thank you guys. Brian Clapp, our Arizona friend and now our EPA insider in D.C, and Fred, our Corporate Gypsy and my oldest friend: You guys are fantastic people, and I really, really appreciate your generosity and friendship. Thanks for touring me around, showing me the ropes, the restaurants, bars and sights, and thanks, especially, for being so hospitable and willing to make me feel so comfortable.


...There's a sweet note to go out on, right?

I'll see all you 4ECon readin' fools later,
- Dave


P.S. Mike Randolph has answered our questions and will get his Gamepaign 2008 scores soon enough. Anyone have any point recommendations?