Seems appropriate to follow the video below with Charles Marohn‘s analysis of the U.S. housing ‘recovery’ in Better! Cities and Towns:
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I’ve marked the four bubbles …. You’ll note that they grow in size as time goes on. The first one is right in that spot I’ve identified as the end of the first life cycle of the Suburban Experiment. This was the time when the illusion of prosperity from the first generation of growth was starting to wane, when some of the bills were coming due and our economy was starting to stall.
If our Suburban Experiment contained only the auto-centric development pattern, it would have died here, unable to be sustained financially. Unfortunately, a centralized approach to growth, development and job creation combined with the ability to create as much money as needed and have it be absorbed by the world to extend our great experiment.
Like a pain killer for an ailing economy, we can see a little bit of rescue at (1), then when that little amount wouldn’t do, a little bit more (2), then some more (3), then a whole lot more (4). We’re now just heavily medicated full time, an economy as addict.
