Haileson Dover – RAB Source Entry # 2

Krugman, Paul. “Opinion | Why a Blue City Is Feeling the Blues.” The New York Times, 18 Jan. 2022, www.nytimes.com/2022/01/17/opinion/new-york-city-wall-street-economy.html

Summary:

In the Op-Ed, “Why a Blue City Is Feeling the Blues.” Author Paul Krugman shares his opinion on the declining state of New York’s economic status. He makes the point that New York is experiencing a lagging economic recovery with housing being just as unaffordable as before the pandemic. Krugman comments on the obstructions that COVID has placed into our daily lives and how it affected rental costs in New York. With a majority of workers being at home, offices were vacant leaving a lot of empty space and with re-opening of the city those office are still shells of a once booming economy. Krugman also brings up the point of housing costs soaring past their pre-pandemic levels. He also brings factors such as tourism and an increased lack of spending due people mostly doing their shopping online. He ends the writing stating that the apparent tax increase is driving people out to place where the housing is affordable.

Reflection:

In this Op-Ed, Krugman make many points about how the pandemic further affected New York’s dwindling economy. I like what he said about people not going outside anymore to shop and spend their money. Almost all of us have turned to e-commerce to suit or shopping needs and although it isn’t the same as shopping in the store may be, the convenience it brought us made it a more common thing today. But that shopping experience is a key component to our city’s economy. With more sales and more people outside, there’s a larger cash flow into the city. I had a thought about another topic Krugman brings up which is about the fact that most New Yorkers aren’t in the field of finance with only 8 percent of people in that position, yet we have so many office buildings. Shouldn’t these jobs be more accessible in a city that literally thrives off it? He also talks about an increase in taxes and housing costs. It appears more people want their own homes since before the pandemic and it raises another question. Do more people want their own space because of the pandemic? With more people moving in, costs have gone up way more than before the pandemic and with costs more New Yorkers are moving out for more affordable housing.

In this op-ed the Author Paul Krugman uses an informative tone giving the reader a view into tolls New York has faced through the pandemic. The author wants to give an insight into the financial aspect of the city. The genre of this writing is an op-ed focused on the pandemics effect on NYC’S economy. This adds focus to my question and touches upon the change in living costs amongst New Yorkers. The op-ed was recently published making this very relevant to today. This is a credible source because it comes from The New York times which is an award-winning newspaper which is know for its unbiased takes on social issues and topics.

Notable Quotes:

“Indeed, New York is a great place to live — if you can afford the cost of housing. That last point, however, is a problem, and it lies behind the city’s lagging economic recovery.”

“What’s behind this underperformance? Some of it reflects the effects of the pandemic on tourism and business travel — Times Square was just starting to become intolerable again (normally nobody goes there because it’s too crowded) before Omicron hit.”

“What people are really doing is moving to places where housing is affordable, because governments don’t block new construction.”