Back From DC
April 30th, 2009 | Author: DTH
I have just returned from a weekend in our nation’s capitol, and can report that there is no recession in the district. Walking through much of the area around GW and Georgetown, I must have seen 25 cranes and over 30 houses undergoing renovation. A quick look at the state-by-state per capita GNP statistics shows a Washington DC that ranks first among all 50 states, over twice the next highest (Connecticut) and challenging oil producing nations if treated as its own nation. Remind me again what we produce in DC.
I plan to access that same statistical information to compare per capita GNP growth rates over the last 25 years. I suspect that I will find that our fastest growing product will be legislation and regulation.
I read an editorial in the Post bemoaning the difficulty of finding the 600,000 workers who will be needed to fill government jobs over the next few years. Not one of those workers will have to worry about producing revenue, selling a product, or making a payroll.
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DTH – My industry is real estate development and management on a commercial basis. DC has always been and sounds like always will be the dirty little secret that especially in downturns such as the one we are currently in, DC was the place to take your show on the road to. Typically the region, again, while generally in an economic downturn, will, by the sheer osmosis of the phenomenon you observed, be a wonderful place that will yeild a much higher return on your investment dollars from a hard asset class standpoint.
They feel no shame………..
DTH – I would be interested in the stats you mention, though my sense is I know the outcome of the data already as you mentioned as well.