Among the ten greatest books ever written in economics is
University Economics. First published in 1972, this textbook that is co-authored by Armen A. Alchian and William R. Allen is a marvel. If you read it and grasp even no more than one-third of its lessons you will gain keener insights into economic forces at work than are had by some Nobel laureates in economics. If you grasp most of the lessons of this book, you will possess economic insight that is rivaled by very few people indeed.
Alchian (1914-1913) died almost eight years ago. I learned just this evening, from Jerry Jordan, that Bill Allen (1924-2021) – Alchian’s co-author and long-time colleague at UCLA Econ – died today. Prof. Allen would have turned 97 in April. So sad.
Thousands of apartments stood empty in August 2020 that had been occupied only a few months before in urban cores across the country, including in previously white-hot markets like San Francisco and New York.
Desperate owners have been dropping rents and offering eye-popping concessions and optimizing on-site amenities in attempts to lure tenants. But it’s not nearly been enough to offset the trend of residents relocating to more spacious and less expensive markets as well others, including many young renters, who have lost jobs and moved back home to live with their parents.
In addition, as the economic chaos caused by the coronavirus cuts into the demand for apartments, developers continue to finish new luxury apartment towers downtown that are fighting to attract the renters that are left.