The meek may inherit the Earth, but the rich will buy the beach

From Bloomberg:

Springsteen Girls Priced Out as Rich Buy N.J. Shore Homes

When Hurricane Sandy roared through New Jersey two years ago, it not only tore up the shoreline. It also pushed out much of the middle class.

From Ocean City to Toms River, one-story cottages and bungalows damaged by the worst Atlantic storm on record are being replaced by multi-story homes that go for twice as much. Sales of million-dollar homes on the Jersey Shore surged to a seven-year high in the third quarter.

Sandy accelerated the turnover of existing homes to higher-priced ones, said Kevin Gillen, an economist at University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government. Meanwhile, those relying on insurance claims and government grants are sometimes unable to rebuild as quickly as their wealthier neighbors.

“What we see right now along the water is that the people with resources, people who have a lot of money, right off the bat, they’re back in their houses enjoying it versus a lot of other people who are still struggling,” said Doug Quinn, who remains displaced from his Sandy-flooded home in Toms River, about 70 miles (113 kilometers) south of New York City.

The outperformance of the rich on the Jersey Shore mirrors national trends since the recession ended in 2009, Gillen said. Between 2010 and 2013, median incomes fell for all Americans but the richest, a September Federal Reserve report showed.

“This overall economic recovery has been skewed to the upper half of the population,” Gillen said. “The more educated you are, the more accomplishments you have on your resume, the chances are you are better off today than you were a couple years ago in the depths of the recession.”

While multi-million dollar communities dot New Jersey’s Atlantic oceanfront, blue-collar workers have vacationed on its beaches and sailed along its inlets for generations. In the 1970s, New Jersey native Bruce Springsteen sang of wooing factory girls under the Asbury Park boardwalk.

Often, people inherited bungalows and other modest Shore homes dating to World War II, said Toms River Mayor Thomas Kelaher. No one’s building those anymore, he said.

Ninety-nine homes sold for more than $1 million in Atlantic and Cape May counties in the third quarter, the most since the same period in 2007, at the height of the housing bubble, according to Zillow (Z:US) Inc., the Seattle-based real-estate website.

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, Employment, Shore Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

106 Responses to The meek may inherit the Earth, but the rich will buy the beach

  1. grim says:

    I’ll highlight one paragraph in the article above:

    “This overall economic recovery has been skewed to the upper half of the population,” Gillen said. “The more educated you are, the more accomplishments you have on your resume, the chances are you are better off today than you were a couple years ago in the depths of the recession.”

  2. grim says:

    To continue the discussion regarding economic recovery in NJ and specifically household incomes, I’m going to rehash an old piece from the summer, from the NYT:

    The Rich Get Richer Through the Recovery

    The top 10 percent of earners took more than half of the country’s total income in 2012, the highest level recorded since the government began collecting the relevant data a century ago, according to an updated study by the prominent economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty.

    The top 1 percent took more than one-fifth of the income earned by Americans, one of the highest levels on record since 1913, when the government instituted an income tax.

    The figures underscore that even after the recession the country remains in a new Gilded Age, with income as concentrated as it was in the years that preceded the Depression of the 1930s, if not more so.

    High stock prices, rising home values and surging corporate profits have buoyed the recovery-era incomes of the most affluent Americans, with the incomes of the rest still weighed down by high unemployment and stagnant wages for many blue- and white-collar workers.

  3. grim says:

    Now, I think it’s easy to read that kind of article and assume it’s talking about the very wealthy, after all, we’re talking about the top 10% of incomes. This number must be huge, no?

    No. In 2012, the lower bound of the top Quintile for income (Top 20%) was $104,096. The top 10% is approximately $140,000, and the top 5% is $191,156 and up. New Jersey is not a “middle class” state.

    Given NJ’s income distribution, we’re square in the crosshairs of receiving much of the income and economic growth being talked about here.

    22.2% of NJ’s households are in the top 20% of incomes nationally, and nearly 50% of NJ’s households are in the top 40%.

  4. 1987 Condo says:

    #1-3, agree…we are “attracting” and keeping only those that can afford to live here and they choose the “best” towns to live in….just like if you are unemployed or underemployed in Milwaukee you are not moving to Manhattan, but if you are top 1%, maybe Goldman just hired you and guess where you live…(I know obvious but it is early)…

  5. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    I need coffee.

  6. essex says:

    Money. That’s what I want. Gimme money.

  7. Fast Eddie says:

    So, what you’re telling me is prices never go down here, that it’s different here. Right?

  8. grim says:

    #1-3, agree…we are “attracting” and keeping only those that can afford to live here and they choose the “best” towns to live in….

    I don’t think it’s a matter of keeping those who can afford to live here, if that were the case the statewide stats would look better.

    The other item though, is as you mention, distribution of those income earners is not proportionate. For example:

    22.2% of NJ’s households are in the top 20% of incomes nationally

    If you were to carve this out geographically, the households number would be MUCH higher.

  9. Where they all promise to unsnap their jeans.

    wooing factory girls under the Asbury Park boardwalk.

  10. grim says:

    If you were to carve this out geographically, the households number would be MUCH higher.

    For example, in Bergen County, 35% of all households are in the top 20% of incomes nationwide. This county level data is based on the 5 year ACS, not the 1 year ACS, so I will bet you that the actual number is closer to 40%.

  11. I’m having mine with Organic milk from TJ’s instead of the genetically engineered mini-moos they have for us here at the office. Those little creamers are weird. They require no refrigeration, but they don’t last forever. The expiration date is stamped on the box and damn if they don’t all go South almost exactly on the date and time that’s stamped there.

    I need coffee.

  12. grim says:

    Two other interesting myths that the household incomes data refute are:

    NJ is losing wealthy residents.

    Income Tier — 1999 Households — 2013 Households
    $100,000 to $149,999 — 391,123 — 530,664
    $150,000 to $199,999 — 130,492 — 260,456
    $200,000 or more — 132,837 — 307,802

    Significantly more adult children are living with their parents.

    Average NJ household size in the 2000 Census was 2.68
    Average NJ household size in the 2013 ACS was 2.74

  13. grim says:

    Wealthy residents may be leaving, but it sure doesn’t seem to be negatively impacting high income household growth in NJ.

    And regarding the increase in household size, we’re talking about 6 additional household members per each 100 households.

    In addition, we can’t assume this are adult children, since demographics strongly suggest that some % of these 6 are elderly parents as well.

    As well the increase in college enrollment with some % of students living at home during college. This is the fiscally prudent approach in a high cost area.

    Where’s the data to suggest a huge number of unemployed college graduates living with their parents?

  14. Toxic Crayons says:

    http://www.njherald.com/story/27337738/studies-millennials-moving-out

    Studies: Millennials moving out

    Posted: Nov 09, 2014 4:04 PM EST
    Updated: Nov 09, 2014 4:19 PM EST

    Related Links
    Sussex County Economic and Demographic Profile
    Economic Development in Sussex County

    By BRUCE A. SCRUTON

    bscruton@njherald.com

    Sussex County has gone from “the country place to move to” in the last half of the 20th century, to “the last place to move to” for the millennials, the generation of 20-29 year olds that sees themselves reflected by the 24/7-lifestyle of urban areas.

    Such is the shared conclusion of a pair of economic studies that will be presented to the Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders during a special presentation at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday at the county Administrative Center, 1 Spring St.

    The presentation will take place just before the board’s regular 5 p.m. business meeting.

    One report is a continuing draft and review study, prepared under a grant from Together North Jersey and written by James W. Hughes, Joseph J. Seneca and Will Irving, and Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University.

    The second report is the work of Econsult Solutions, McCormick Taylor and Mercer Planning Associates and is funded by grants from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development and Department Transportation through the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, which covers the 13 northern county of New Jersey.

    The Hughes-Seneca-Irving report is a study of statistical data of the region, focusing on Sussex County and its relation to the dozen other counties as well as New York City and the state.

    The report paints demographic pictures of how Sussex County led the suburbanization of rural areas in the latter half of the 20th century and now leads in the retrenchment of that expansion.

    The second report uses much of the same demographic data but paints it on a planning canvas of what it appears the county’s municipalities, and the state agencies, should be looking at as the ripples of expansion retreat to the urban areas.

    It is that draw back to the cities — New York City now creates more jobs after falling behind New Jersey in each decade since 1950 — that will hurt much of the county since the area lacks the things attractive to the millenials.

    Open space vs. millenials

    The planning document is broken down into several areas, such as housing, land use and design, tourism, transportation and workforce.

    Each of the sections contains a chart of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and discusses each area potential.

    As an example, when it comes to land use, each municipality is on its own, the report notes, when good planning should be on a regional or multi-town level.

    “The county doesn’t really have much say in all this,” said County Administrator John Eskilson. “The power to plan is at the local level with oversight — some would say roadblocks — from the state.”

    And the report does indeed take the state Department of Environmental Protection to task for some of its decisions and the length of time it takes to wade through the state regulations placed on development.

    The report notes there is a double-edged sword in the county’s future. On one edge is the county’s amount of open space and protected parkland, the kind of environment the millenials want when they go on their two- or three-day mini-vacations.

    But building an economy on tourism also leads to a lot of lower paying, part-time and seasonal jobs.

    New Jersey leads the nation in the percentage of revenue from agritourism, the report notes, but adds there is “limited profitability” in agritourism.

    The document notes one of the largest employers in the county is the Crystal Springs resort with its hotels, restaurants and golf courses.

    The planners also noted there is a definite lack of good transportation both within the county, helping the lower economic classes get to jobs because they don’t have a car, and for those who commute out of county. Sussex County residents have the longest commute of any county in the state, more than 37 minutes average.

    The rural nature of the county is proven in other parts of the report.

    Sussex County leads the state in the amount of open space and public parks, with nearly 6/10ths of an acre per person. Warren County is second with less than .3 of an acre with Hunterdon following at just .15 of an acre per capita.

    Only about 6 percent of the county’s residents live within a half mile of a school where in the rest of the 13 northern counties, 10 percent or more of the population is within that half-mile radius.

    Most telling is the decline in population, not just retirees and others moving out, but the lack of children.

    Between 2005 and 2012, Sussex County’s population declined by 2.6 percent.

    The school population declined by 21 percent, more than double that of any other of the 13 northern counties.

    Sussex County’s enrollment decline accounted for 26 percent of the net decline in the 13-county region and, with almost 6,000 fewer students, accounted for more than a third of the statewide decline of 17,644 pupils in that time period.

    And equally telling is the almost stagnant growth in the number of people in the 20-29 age group.

    That number increased by only 116 persons, or 0.8 percent, over the seven-year period. The growth rate for the 13-county region was 17.3 percent and 15.1 percent for the state as a whole.

    There was a bright spot, though. The report states: “Despite lack of significant growth in population, households, and young adults, Sussex County’s median household income of $86,625 in 2012 was among the highest in the region, well above that of Manhattan ($67,099) and New Jersey ($69,997).”

    That put the county fourth in the region, behind Hunterdon ($105,186), Somerset ($95,825) and Morris ($95,294) counties.

  15. anon (the good one) says:

    i said it before. “middle class” is a bogus concept

    grim says:
    November 10, 2014 at 6:39 am

    New Jersey is not a “middle class” state.

  16. anon (the good one) says:

    it stands to reason that wealthy residents are not leaving.

    is a NJ born, college educated, middle aged, six-figure a yr, two kids in JHS, move his family to Alabama? how many of those people do you know?

    grim says:
    November 10, 2014 at 7:56 am
    Two other interesting myths that the household incomes data refute are:

    NJ is losing wealthy residents

  17. anon (the good one) says:

    ‘Currency of Fear’
    “The gold price for us is the currency of fear, and fear in the market seems to be abating, rightfully or wrongfully,” said Guido Barthels, chief investment officer at Ethenea Independent Investors SA in Luxembourg.”

    @BloombergNews: About a third of all gold is now being sold at a loss

  18. jj says:

    The wealthy often only leave on Paper. The Hamptons are full of wealthy folk who have a house in the Hamptons, pied a tier in Manhattan and a Primary Residence in Az or Florida. They still spend here.

    Down South or out West sucks if you want ocassional culture, see the grandkids or have a proper Xmas holiday or go to a real beach in the summer.

    Condo and Coops sales you see tons of snow birds, usually the richer ones. None of them by me are paying NY State tax and many cars have the Florida Plates. The Jersey Shore it a PERFECT place for rich snowbirds. Jump in get a house cash post Sandy price, spend summers at the beach and go down south or out west November through April. Pretty much growing up in Great Neck North Shore Towers cleared out after Yom Kippur and folks reappeared Passover week. Folks would load their white Caddies with Florida plates onto the Auto train and head South.

    The old rich jews loved North Shore towers which is on Nassau/Queens boarder. But building is in Queens so property tax very low and none paid the City tax anyhow.

    Other myth about the rich is none of my friends parents were rich and we are all in the tip income bracket. The top 5% of earners many 25 years ago were in the bottom 50% of earners.

  19. Fast Eddie says:

    Are wages synonymous with income? A component of income? Please define it.

  20. Michael says:

    So true. If that is not a sign that the economy is improving, I don’t know what is. But there will never be wage inflation again.

    anon (the good one) says:
    November 10, 2014 at 8:43 am
    ‘Currency of Fear’
    “The gold price for us is the currency of fear, and fear in the market seems to be abating, rightfully or wrongfully,” said Guido Barthels, chief investment officer at Ethenea Independent Investors SA in Luxembourg.”

    @BloombergNews: About a third of all gold is now being sold at a loss

  21. grim says:

    I’m not saying anything is different here, all I’m saying is lets understand what “here” is and to stop speculating based on anecdotes.

  22. Comrade Nom Deplume, Guardian of the Realm says:

    Bellmawr is a hot mess. Avoid.

  23. Michael says:

    1-3- Grim, once again thank you for the nice write-ups. Hopefully this will enlighten those individuals that claim the wealthy are leaving our state in droves. The #s don’t lie. Plus, how many wealthy people do you know leaving jersey to go to places like Texas, alabama, or north carolina? The only nj residents that left for these places that I know, all were middle class or lower. They all left for CHEAPER HOMES and are now regretting the move.

    Fast eddie, are you paying attention? Are you sure the Ridgewood inhabitants are muppets? I think you are very confused my friend.

  24. Michael says:

    18- Agree

  25. anon (the good one) says:

    Here is actually very different. 3 state area with very high concentration of Democrats, Liberals, art, culture, jobs, finance, research, entertainment, sports, etc, etc, etc, etc

    grim says:
    November 10, 2014 at 9:22 am
    I’m not saying anything is different here, all I’m saying is lets understand what “here” is and to stop speculating based on anecdotes.

  26. Fast Eddie says:

    Wages are a mere fraction of income; how interesting! ;) Gee, how silly I am. In the olden days, we used to compute whether wages would cover monthly housing expenses, not income.

    So, let me get this straight: income is up substantially, yet wages have been flat for over a decade. Do you see where I’m going with this?

  27. Anon E. Moose says:

    Tool [16];

    is a NJ born, college educated, middle aged, six-figure a yr, two kids in JHS, move his family to Alabama? how many of those people do you know?

    Dear Mr. Plant Manager, effective Jan 1, 2016 your duty reporting station will be our new factory in Alabama. Please make your living arrangements accordingly.

    What, you were expecting a relo package?

  28. Anon E. Moose says:

    JJ [18];

    What about that poor sap hedgie in Greenwich who got tagged for NYS income tax on ALL of it because of the Hamptons beach house that his in-laws lived in which he bought in his name?

    The obvious response was the PA hedgie who took a picture of himself in front of his house at the crack of dawn holding the local newspaper to prove he slept the required number of nights there to avoid being considered a NY resident. Just like some kidnap victim. This is what the governmental overlords have turned us into — tax hostages.

    NYS got Jeter on resident taxes, too.

  29. Michael says:

    If you are smart, you tell them good luck. That move will ruin your life.

    Anon E. Moose says:
    November 10, 2014 at 9:45 am
    Tool [16];

    is a NJ born, college educated, middle aged, six-figure a yr, two kids in JHS, move his family to Alabama? how many of those people do you know?

    Dear Mr. Plant Manager, effective Jan 1, 2016 your duty reporting station will be our new factory in Alabama. Please make your living arrangements accordingly.

    What, you were expecting a relo package?

  30. Toxic Crayons says:

    Sooooo Bergen County, Manhattan, and the Hamptons are doing well.

  31. grim says:

    So, let me get this straight: income is up substantially, yet wages have been flat for over a decade. Do you see where I’m going with this?

    Actually no, your statement is incorrect.

    Hourly Wage Distribution by Quintiles 1989-2010 inflation adjusted 2010

    Quintile — 1989 — 2010
    20th — $10.97 — $10.21
    40th — $15.57 — $15.75
    60th — $20.93 — $23.82
    80th — $29.08 — $36.14

  32. [14] TC – Re:Sussex County – Not enough basements, perhaps?

    And equally telling is the almost stagnant growth in the number of people in the 20-29 age group.

  33. grim says:

    That’s NJ data

  34. Fast Eddie says:

    My brother, in his semi-retirement, has been doing executive recruiting for years and told me that salaries are the same now as they were in 2000.

    And 1989 to 2010? A 21 year stretch? Those figures look pretty dead from my view.

  35. I think it’s starting to slant downward.

    My brother, in his semi-retirement, has been doing executive recruiting for years and told me that salaries are the same now as they were in 2000.

  36. essex says:

    Aren’t most people making $$$ on stock options? Would that be reflected or not.

  37. Pete says:

    Seems like its once a month that Grim goes through all the trouble of pulling numbers and data to objectively look at the market and its hand waved away with anecdata.

    And Eddie much like you are asking about the distinction between salary and wages is your brother making the distinction between salary and total compensation. I wont even waste my time like Grim does to pull the numbers on how executive level compensation has changed over the past 15 years.

  38. Fast Eddie says:

    So, people had the wherewithal to build investments and earn interest and dividends but need to use these proceeds to pay for monthly expenses? So the discipline that got them there in the first place is no longer? It must be the case because wages are dead for years and can’t keep pace. I have no further questions, your honor.

  39. Fast Eddie says:

    Pete,

    I wont even waste my time like Grim does to pull the numbers on how executive level compensation has changed over the past 15 years.

    Don’t bother, I’m sure it would reflect something that shines the best light on your argument.

  40. DuckVader says:

    Fast Eddie,

    Maybe your analysis is overly concentrated on wages, rather than income and asset flows. In other words, there are so many more variables rather than just wage growth, especially if you are looking at relatively concentrated areas. I’m pretty sure overall UK wage growth is not spectacular, but my wife and I were considering moving to London and the cost of housing, whether buying or renting, was far, far more outrageous than here in NY or NJ relative to national income levels or any measure of sanity. My brother used to live in Singapore as an engineer, and the flat he rented for $3000 a month about 10 years ago now goes for $6,000 plus a month. And it’s the same story in pockets of Bangkok, Manila — I could be an expat soon. In Manila, a decent house rental in the suburbs (with a one hour drive into the business district) area runs like $2000 – $4000 a month … but that is Manila. Like you, I wonder how people can afford it, but apparently they can. Overall statistics work for a large population, but the smaller you get relative to the overall population, divergence, as you very well know, from the mean is a reality.

  41. Toxic Crayons says:

    http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2014/06/trends-in-ceo-compensation.html

    Trends in CEO Compensation

    Via the EPI:

    … Trends in CEO compensation last year:

    Average CEO compensation was $15.2 million in 2013, using a comprehensive measure of CEO pay that covers CEOs of the top 350 U.S. firms and includes the value of stock options exercised in a given year, up 2.8 percent since 2012 and 21.7 percent since 2010.
    Longer-term trends in CEO compensation:

    From 1978 to 2013, CEO compensation, inflation-adjusted, increased 937 percent, a rise more than double stock market growth and substantially greater than the painfully slow 10.2 percent growth in a typical worker’s compensation over the same period.
    The CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 20-to-1 in 1965 and 29.9-to-1 in 1978, grew to 122.6-to-1 in 1995, peaked at 383.4-to-1 in 2000, and was 295.9-to-1 in 2013, far higher than it was in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, or 1990s.
    If Facebook, which we exclude from our data due to its outlier high compensation numbers, were included in the sample, average CEO pay was $24.8 million in 2013, and the CEO-to-worker compensation ratio was 510.7-to-1.

  42. jj says:

    Why do the middle class think they are entitled to beach houses and primary homes and cars and money to spend at shore in bars and restaurants. It is pretty expensive.

    Jersey shore is also expensive from fact it has really no winter rental market. Most folks just shut house for winter or get some low paying tenant just to help out a bit.

    With no winter renal market to speak of you need to rent in summer. Some of these folks dont do that either. It worked since they often inherited houses, or bought them cheap pre-1999 and had heavily subsidized flood insurance or just did not even carry flood insurance and never renovated so they paid low property taxes to boot.

    Flash forward to today most folk are required to have flood insurance and unless you raise on a second home it gets very expensive. The land the house sits on is worth way more than house. So of course you sell and of course a rich guy buys as it is like 350K to build a nice house and he has to buy your land too and cash purchase is only way you can buy a flooded home in a flood zone. And builders want a lot of front.

  43. Toxic Crayons says:

    Can you feel the money trickling down on you?

  44. Libturd in Union says:

    I think that’s urine.

  45. chicagofinance says:

    About the most straightforward and sensible thing posted on these threads in weeks.

    jj says:
    November 10, 2014 at 11:43 am
    Why do the middle class think they are entitled to beach houses and primary homes and cars and money to spend at shore in bars and restaurants. It is pretty expensive.

  46. chicagofinance says:

    original thought too

  47. chicagofinance says:

    Just went to client funeral service this morning…..I going to head over to Spirits Unlimited and buy a JW Red and just down it……maybe J&B in tribute to my grandfather…..

  48. JJ says:

    Chifi you missed my good bond tip last week. Thursday I was buying Goodrich Pete 8.875% | Maturity:2019 bonds as I thought they were crazy cheap. I also had a low ball on stock GDP that never hit then Friday the Stock exploded upwards. Seems the CEO bought on million of the 2019 bonds with his own money as he thought they were crazy cheap. He paid 81, I paid like 76. GDP has some Pdf with a x-date of 12-1 and payable of 12-15 you might want to watch in case of a dip. Fat yields.

    chicagofinance says:
    November 10, 2014 at 12:30 pm
    original thought too

  49. JJ says:

    Was it a bad stock tip that made him jump?

    chicagofinance says:
    November 10, 2014 at 12:31 pm
    Just went to client funeral service this morning…..I going to head over to Spirits Unlimited and buy a JW Red and just down it……maybe J&B in tribute to my grandfather…..

  50. Fast Eddie says:

    Why do the middle class think they are entitled to beach houses and primary homes and cars and money to spend at shore in bars and restaurants. It is pretty expensive.

    It’s the same ones that bought in Upper Haughtyville with practically nothing down and then heloc’d the p1ss out of the place to put in granite and a Viking stove.

  51. 1987 Condo says:

    Viking stoves, anyone actually use them? Are there a bunch of folks cooking up a storm that I just don’t socialize with?…

  52. Michael says:

    If the people who bought in the bubble could not afford their home, it would def be in foreclosure by now. It’s 2014, not 2009.

    Fast Eddie says:
    November 10, 2014 at 12:47 pm
    Why do the middle class think they are entitled to beach houses and primary homes and cars and money to spend at shore in bars and restaurants. It is pretty expensive.

    It’s the same ones that bought in Upper Haughtyville with practically nothing down and then heloc’d the p1ss out of the place to put in granite and a Viking stove.

  53. chicagofinance says:

    Liberals Are Killing the Liberal Arts

    This is how bad censorship is getting: Discussions of what can’t be said come with a ‘trigger warning.’

    Harvey Silverglate

    On campuses across the country, hostility toward unpopular ideas has become so irrational that many students, and some faculty members, now openly oppose freedom of speech. The hypersensitive consider the mere discussion of the topic of censorship to be potentially traumatic. Those who try to protect academic freedom and the ability of the academy to discuss the world as it is are swimming against the current. In such an atmosphere, liberal-arts education can’t survive.

    Consider what happened after Smith College held a panel for alumnae titled “Challenging the Ideological Echo Chamber: Free Speech, Civil Discourse and the Liberal Arts.” Moderated by Smith President Kathleen McCartney in late September, the panel was an apparent effort to address the intolerance of diverse opinions that prevails on many campuses.

    One panelist was Smith alumna Wendy Kaminer—an author, lawyer, social critic, feminist, First Amendment near-absolutist and former board member of the American Civil Liberties Union. She delivered precisely the spirited challenge to the echo chamber that the panel’s title seemed to invite. But Ms. Kaminer emerged from the discussion of free speech labeled a racist—for defending free speech.

    The panel started innocuously enough with Ms. Kaminer criticizing the proliferation of campus speech codes that restrict supposedly offensive language. She urged the audience to defend the free exchange of ideas over parochial notions of “civility.” In response to a question about teaching materials that contain “hate speech,” she raised the example of Mark Twain ’s “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” arguing that students should take it as a whole. The student member of the panel, Jaime Estrada, resisted that notion, saying, “But it has the n-word, and some people are sensitive to that.”

    Ms. Kaminer responded: “Well let’s talk about n-words. Let’s talk about the growing lexicon of words that can only be known by their initials. I mean, when I say, ‘n-word’ or when Jaime says ‘n-word,’ what word do you all hear in your head? You hear the word . . . ”

    And then Ms. Kaminer crossed the Rubicon of political correctness and uttered the forbidden word, observing that having uttered it, “nothing horrible happened.” She then compared the trend of replacing potentially offensive words with an initial to being “characters in a Harry Potter book who are afraid to say the word ‘Voldemort.’ ” There’s an important difference, she pointed out, between hurling an epithet and uttering a forbidden word during an academic discussion of our attitudes toward language and law.

    The event—and Ms. Kaminer’s words—prompted blowback from Smith undergraduates, recent alumnae and some faculty members. One member of the audience posted an audio recording and transcript of the discussion, preceded by what has come to be known in the academic world as a “trigger warning”:

    “Trigger/Content Warnings: Racism/racial slurs, abelist slurs, anti-Semitic language, anti-Muslim/Islamophobic language, anti-immigrant language, sexist/misogynistic slurs, references to race-based violence.”

    One has to have imbibed this culture of hyper-victimization in order even to understand the lingo. “Ableism,” for example, is described at ableism.org as “the practices and dominant attitudes in society that devalue and limit the potential of persons with disabilities” and that “assign inferior value (worth) to persons who have developmental, emotional, physical or psychiatric disabilities.”

    The contretemps prompted articles in the newspapers of Smith College and neighboring Mount Holyoke College, condemning Ms. Kaminer’s remarks as examples of institutionalized racism. Smith president Ms. McCartney was criticized for not immediately denouncing Ms. Kaminer. In a Sept. 29 letter responding to the Smith community, she apologized to students and faculty who were “hurt” and made to feel “unsafe” by Ms. Kaminer’s comments in defense of free speech.

    A rare academic counter-current to the vast censorial wave came from professor of politics Christopher Pyle at Mount Holyoke. He wrote in the Mount Holyoke News that readers of the paper were misled by a report that “a Smith alumna made racist remarks when speaking at an alumnae panel.” He criticized the condemnation of Ms. Kaminer for her willingness to challenge the tyranny of “sanitary euphemisms.”

    Smith is not the epicenter of hostility to free speech. On university campuses nationwide we are witnessing an increasing tide of trigger warnings. They are popping up on syllabi, in discussions of public art, and even finding their way into official school policies.

    On Oct. 27, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology circulated a survey questionnaire to its entire student body on the issue of sexual assault—a so-called “climate survey” to try to determine and expose the extent of the problem at the school. Remarkably enough, the survey itself came accompanied by, guess what:

    “TRIGGER WARNING: Some of the questions in this survey use explicit language, including anatomical names of body parts and specific behaviors to ask about sexual situations. This survey also asks about sexual assault and other forms of sexual violence which may be upsetting. Resources for support will be available on every page of the survey, should you need them.”

    Hypersensitivity to the trauma allegedly inflicted by listening to controversial ideas approaches a strange form of derangement—a disorder whose lethal spread in academia grows by the day. What should be the object of derision, a focus for satire, is instead the subject of serious faux academic discussion and precautionary warnings. For this disorder there is no effective quarantine. A whole generation of students soon will have imbibed the warped notions of justice and entitlement now handed down as dogma in the universities.

  54. chicagofinance says:

    Dude…..you are the cat with nine lives…..one day it will be the tenth….not here I guess….that said, you have 10,000x the scruples and balls of that piker on here who is the novice stock tout…..

    JJ says:

    November 10, 2014 at 12:35 pm

    Chifi you missed my good bond tip last week. Thursday I was buying Goodrich Pete 8.875% | Maturity:2019 bonds as I thought they were crazy cheap. I also had a low ball on stock GDP that never hit then Friday the Stock exploded upwards. Seems the CEO bought on million of the 2019 bonds with his own money as he thought they were crazy cheap. He paid 81, I paid like 76. GDP has some Pdf with a x-date of 12-1 and payable of 12-15 you might want to watch in case of a dip. Fat yields.

    chicagofinance says:
    November 10, 2014 at 12:30 pm
    original thought too

  55. Fast Eddie says:

    If the people who bought in the bubble could not afford their home, it would def be in foreclosure by now. It’s 2014, not 2009.

    They can’t afford it because they’re not qualified to sell it.

    Any other questions?

  56. Libturd in Union says:

    “Here is actually very different. 3 state area with very high concentration of Democrats, Liberals, art, culture, jobs, finance, research, entertainment, sports, etc, etc, etc, etc”

    So what you’re saying (completely void of any causation as is the case with all of your analysis) is that in blue states, household income gains are mainly at the top? I thought so.

  57. joyce says:

    Libturd,

    The only way to fire a public employee is to not hire one?

  58. Michael says:

    Are they living in the house and making payment? Then they are qualified to live in the house.

    Fast Eddie says:
    November 10, 2014 at 1:16 pm
    If the people who bought in the bubble could not afford their home, it would def be in foreclosure by now. It’s 2014, not 2009.

    They can’t afford it because they’re not qualified to sell it.

    Any other questions?

  59. Libturd in Union says:

    “The only way to fire a public employee is to not hire one?”

    Well the supervisors, who were surely in attendance, are still on the job. I always hated that bar.

  60. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    [52] condo

    Viking stoves suck. So does calphalon.

  61. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    [14] toxic

    That makes sense. I just read that the millennials have a negative savings rate. That would explain why. Still, I think they are all screwed.

  62. Anon E. Moose says:

    Joyce [59];

    Has to rise to the level of a felony, adjudicated to the end of the process, to get any public employee off the job. Been saying for some time that its easier to convict a public employee beyond a reasonable doubt than to fire one.

  63. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    [54] chi fi

    I can’t wait until the next rerun of “Blazing Saddles”. Even the edited version will have a trigger warning or disclaimer on it. I guarantee you.

  64. joyce says:

    Moose,

    Yup. When I came across the news article about the NYS cop slapping around some guy over the weekend, I was with a few people. One of them said, “he should be fired and never allowed to be a cop again.” I immediately replied that with a felony conviction you get the bonus of both of those things as well.

  65. jj says:

    I look for weird things in Bond market. For instance Genworth bonds got lowered one notch in Ratings on Friday. But that one notch put them into junk, lots of investment grade bond funds are forced to sell now combined with the huge sell off in stock last week and bad press, bonds are now trading off like 16%

    Did the default risk rise 16% in three trading days, I doubt it.
    chicagofinance says:

    November 10, 2014 at 1:07 pm

    Dude…..you are the cat with nine lives…..one day it will be the tenth….not here I guess….that said, you have 10,000x the scruples and balls of that piker on here who is the novice stock tout…..

  66. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    [54] chi fi

    I’m well acquainted with the two institutions discussed at length in that article. Suffice it to say, the women that would be “offended” or “unsafe” as a result of such a discussion used to be a very small minority.

    However, such institutions are really the safe havens for the delicate flowers that can’t cut it at other colleges or universities. As a result, they are now a much larger segment of the population.

    A few weeks ago, I was in South Hadley and went to use the Mount Holyoke college library. I knew from having been there decades ago, that they had the books that I wanted to see in their main reading room. I also knew that finding them there would have been far easier and faster then trying to find them in the UMass library system.

    But after three decades, I didn’t remember my way around. The poor undergraduate at the circulation desk where I asked for help almost couldn’t speak to me; it was pretty apparent she wasn’t used to speaking to men, even middle aged ones who could pass for a parent or professor. Fortunately, she called over a senior administrator who was very nice and help me locate the information I sought.

    Some other staffers and students helped me compile and scan what I needed; the older staffers were just fine, very personable, helpful, and knew what I was researching, but the students seemed to be wondering why I was there.

  67. jj says:

    1-Year Rate of Return +18.08%
    Chifi in case you are wondering. Choppy markets are made for choppers.

  68. Libturd in Union says:

    “Viking stoves suck. So does calphalon.”

    There is a correlation between the high volume of ordering take-out and owning a Viking stove. As for calphalon, I agree. The best is All-Clad, but you have to know how to cook to use them properly. We stopped buying good non-stick as the surface wears out as quickly with the good stuff as it does with the lousy cheap stuff. As long as the handle is good, any non-stick pan will work pretty similarly.

    Also, can’t tell you how many posts there are on the Montklair watercooler looking for Viking stove repairmen.

  69. Ragnar says:

    54, 59,
    There’s an awesome South Park episode that simultaneously tackles both the difficulty of firing a unionized teacher and aggressive approach of the political correctness police.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_Camp_of_Tolerance
    Now sadly it’s only on Hulu Plus at the moment, rather than standard free viewing

  70. Fast Eddie says:

    Michael,

    Are they living in the house and making payment? Then they are qualified to live in the house.

    They’re renting. If you’re not qualified to sell, you’re a renter. That’s the problem. They expect those that are solvent to bail them out. They’re muppets. No, they’re “f.uck you” muppets.

  71. 1987 Condo says:

    Exactly, why did a society that values eating out for virtually every meal get so into “industrial” chef type kitchens, always cracked me up, plus, as you note, Viking has a terrible reliability record.

  72. jj says:

    Always amazing amount of rich jews with Viking ovens, I be scared of large ovens if I were them plus they dont cook anyhow

    Libturd in Union says:

    November 10, 2014 at 2:21 pm

    “Viking stoves suck. So does calphalon.”

  73. Comrade Nom Deplume, at Peace With The Trolls says:

    [73] condo

    I never had a Viking stove but my sister had one and I heard all her tales of woe. Same for her subzero fridge. To her credit, she and her husband cook quite a bit, and could use the industrial style appliances. And she has had them very long time and they work okay now but she was clear that she would never do them again.

    I do have a rather extensive set of Calphalon. It started when an old GF bought a set for me, and my wife has bought more sense. Some of the pieces are pretty good, however the more basic pieces I never use, or use as backups.

  74. [72] They’re less than renters, otherwise they could go live somewhere else. If a nicer house in their neighborhood came available as a rental with lower monthly payment, they can’t move.

    They’re renting. If you’re not qualified to sell, you’re a renter. That’s the problem. They expect those that are solvent to bail them out. They’re muppets. No, they’re “f.uck you” muppets.

  75. anon (the good one) says:

    didn’t know that middle class right wingers had so much envy against those able to afford expensive appliances.

    couldn’t care less about other people’s kitchens

  76. Fast Eddie says:

    ExPat [76],

    Explain that to Michael.

  77. Ragnar says:

    How hard is it to make a reliable stove? There aren’t that many moving parts, I thought. Knobs and valves to control gas flow, and sparks to start the flame.

    I visited my SIL with a new induction stove. I absolutely hated it. I tried to fry some eggs, only the center of the pan got hot. Plus she had to buy a new set of pots and pans, and non-flat-bottom woks don’t really work on it – important since she’s Chinese. But since she thought it up, she claims she loves to cook with it, while simultaneously significantly increasing her non-cooked smoothie uptake.

  78. nwnj says:

    #79

    Lots of safety sensors(flame/gas detectors) built into the ovens or there would be houses blowing up left and right. They are sensitive to the heating/cooling cycle and eventually break down.

  79. nwnj says:

    In the old days with pilot lights that problem didn’t exist which is why the old stoves were much more reliable. No use for a gas or flame sensor if it’s always on.

  80. Libturd in Union says:

    “didn’t know that middle class right wingers had so much envy against those able to afford expensive appliances.”

    Anon’s got a fancy stove, Anon’s got a fancy stove.

  81. jj says:

    Who cooks for their sister in law?

    Ragnar says:

    November 10, 2014 at 3:04 pm

    How hard is it to make a reliable stove? There aren’t that many moving parts, I thought. Knobs and valves to control gas flow, and sparks to start the flame.

    I visited my SIL with a new induction stove. I absolutely hated it. I tried to fry some eggs, only the center of the pan got hot. Plus she had to buy a new set of pots and pans, and non-flat-bottom woks don’t really work on it – important since she’s Chinese. But since she thought it up, she claims she loves to cook with it, while simultaneously significantly increasing her non-cooked smoothie uptake.

  82. Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:

    [79] ragnar,

    Sensors and controllers can go bad, to be sure, but the big issue seems to be igniters. I replaced one on my heating system and the heating guy said that they were only good for about 5 years.

    Lib, don’t know what anon is talking about. Isn’t envy that I don’t want a Viking, its that it is too much money for unreliability and, frankly, a look I don’t really care for.

    If anon and otto had their way, we wouldn’t have this whole choice problem. And we’d all be driving Trabants.

  83. Libturd in Union says:

    The igniters went on my old stove in the multi too. I’m very happy with my 6 burner Peerless stoves. They are cheap, don’t have a computer nor do they even self clean or have a clock. They cook great though.

  84. grim says:

    My wife wanted large double ovens, since she is a fairly regular baker, she makes heavy use. 6 cookie trays in at once means I never want for a tasty chocolate chip cookie.

    Stove is a 36″ 5 gas burner, also make good use of the range, but realistically its hard to manage more than 3 pots. The nice thing about the larger ranges is that you can keep multiple hot pots on without worrying about putting them on the countertop. Counterintuitive that you want more cooking space to not cook, but it’s the way I see it. And I don’t understand the griddles on the larger stoves, seems very messy.

    I have an induction cooktop on the island as well, single element but it is massively powerful. It can outlook the main gas burner, and can bring a large stockpot to a boil in a little over a minute. The electrical cabling for that thing set me back almost $300. 240v 50a. It’s nice to have a second cooking surface on the island. Mostly my wife uses it for double boilers since it keeps the cooking close to the large work surface.

    I would have liked to go for a slightly larger main cooktop, 48″.

  85. grim says:

    In the grand scheme of a kitchen remodel, the price difference between a mainstream brand and higher end appliances is very minor. It’s pretty easy to spend $5-7.5k on a mainstream set. Shit, a nice Samsung fridge is $3k these days. So really, what’s the big deal about another $5k when you are spending all the dough to redo your kitchen? Most any semi-custom cabinet line is going to cost more than the appliances for any decent sized kitchen.

    Historically, most of the sub zeros cost what they cost because they were huge in comparison to mainstream, offered designs that could accept cabinet panels, and had the business end (compressor) located above the fridge so that no actual storage space was wasted by a bottom mount compressor. This of course made them much more expensive, besides the fact that they sold into a cache market. Any decent HVAC guy can repair a 25 year old sub zero in an hour or two. Tell me what a 25 year old kenmore is worth, other than being dragged out to the curb. No, I don’t own one.

  86. Libturd at home says:

    For what it’s worth, those Sub Zero’s are probably 2nd behind the Viking Stoves in watercooler searches for repairmen.

  87. jcer says:

    Sub Zero fridges are really good, Viking ranges are very unreliable though. My parents still have there industrial style kitchen aid fridge from the early 90’s it has been bullet proof since about 1998, they had many problems with it early on. Many people have 30 yr sub zeros in their homes, they are good quality, when they break it’s expensive and because they cost 9k new most people keep fixing them. I have a ge profile french door counter depth fridge, the thing is 4 or 5 years old, cost 3k new(came with my condo), biggest POS, icemaker has broken twice and once the sensors got stuck and it decided to continually read cold temps when it was actually almost 60 degrees in the fridge, a quick unplug and plug back in fixed it but kind of ridiculous. I wish the developer who built our place spent a few more $ on appliances. The truth is the mid grade GE profile and others of that ilk are really just hotpoint-like crap clad in stainless. When buying appliances either buy the cheapest or the most expensive. The Koreans seem to make a decent product in the mid-range as it’s the only thing they make(no low-end or high-end from Samsung or LG). I’m with Grim if you are spending 50k or more on a kitchen, spend a few dollars more on the appliances.

  88. chicagofinance says:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Contrast_effect

    grim says:
    November 10, 2014 at 4:23 pm
    In the grand scheme of a kitchen remodel, the price difference between a mainstream brand and higher end appliances is very minor. It’s pretty easy to spend $5-7.5k on a mainstream set. Shit, a nice Samsung fridge is $3k these days. So really, what’s the big deal about another $5k when you are spending all the dough to redo your kitchen?

  89. chicagofinance says:

    Works for a wok, no?

    Ragnar says:
    November 10, 2014 at 3:04 pm
    How hard is it to make a reliable stove? There aren’t that many moving parts, I thought. Knobs and valves to control gas flow, and sparks to start the flame.

    I visited my SIL with a new induction stove. I absolutely hated it. I tried to fry some eggs, only the center of the pan got hot. Plus she had to buy a new set of pots and pans, and non-flat-bottom woks don’t really work on it – important since she’s Chinese. But since she thought it up, she claims she loves to cook with it, while simultaneously significantly increasing her non-cooked smoothie uptake.

  90. Michael says:

    They can leave. They choose to stay and wait for prices to return to where they are more comfortable selling at. They bought at the wrong time, but it is not the end of the world if they wait it out. I didn’t look at the stats, but Ridgewood homes can’t be selling for much less than 2006 prices. They might even be higher by now. Add in the refinancing angle, which lowered these people’s monthly payment ( it’s like getting a raise) and why should these people sell and move? Where are they going to go? Also, what kind of inventory are they going to be looking at. If you bought a home between 2004-2008, and need to sell now, you should not have bought a house in the first place…… You are buying high and selling low, a total financial disaster. If you bought high, you wait for prices to come back or you don’t sell.

    The Original NJ ExPat Asian Hipster says:
    November 10, 2014 at 2:51 pm
    [72] They’re less than renters, otherwise they could go live somewhere else. If a nicer house in their neighborhood came available as a rental with lower monthly payment, they can’t move.

    They’re renting. If you’re not qualified to sell, you’re a renter. That’s the problem. They expect those that are solvent to bail them out. They’re muppets. No, they’re “f.uck you” muppets.

  91. McDullard says:

    Stu and others…

    Any tips on where to buy a mini van?
    Looking for Toyota Sienna. Should I go with 2014 or 2015? Difference is about 5k.
    Any decent dealers? I think True Car prices seem OK and don’t have the savvy to squeeze out the last few percentage points. However, I am worried about lemons (bought one from Liccardi Ford on Rt 22 a few years ago).
    True Car hits are coming from Flemington (closest), New Brunswick, and Avenel. Any dealers that you would recommend? Anything up to Rt 280 is fine…

  92. Juice Box says:

    Speaking of flames, and the joys of home ownership. My 2nd zonr heating unit won’t fire. Ran the code and it said pressure switch. I replaced the pressure switch and still won’t fire. I did an override and the ignition lights but now gas won’t turn on and a different error code now. I now suspect the Honeywell control board. Heck I am calling the HVAC repair next, there goes another grand for sure.

  93. chi in People's Republic of Ithaca says:

    Use CostCo to buy a new car

  94. joyce says:

    n a video that surfaced on Friday, economist and Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber said “lack of transparency” and “stupidity of the American voter” were “critical” to passing the president’s unpopular health care law.

    “Lack of transparency is a huge political advantage,” Gruber said. “Call it the stupidity of the American voter or whatever. But basically, that was really, really critical to getting the thing to pass.”

    Gruber added that he wished “we could make it all transparent,” but said the bill would not have passed if not for the administration’s art of deception on key features of the law.

    “This bill was written in a tortured way to make sure CBO did not score the mandate as taxes,” Gruber said. “If you had a law that made explicit that healthy people pay in and sick people get money, it would not have passed.”

    Gruber made clear that deliberately lying to the American people was a necessary measure in the passage of Obamacare.

    “There’s things that I wish could change,” Gruber said. “But I’d rather have this law than not.”

    http://freebeacon.com/issues/obamacare-architect-stupidity-of-american-people-was-critical-to-passing-obamacare/

  95. McDullard says:

    chi #96…

    I was considering that option though I do not know much about how it works — looks like they have some pre-negotiated prices with the dealer (I saw similar thing from my employer — and the numbers were a bit above TrueCar).

    Did you buy a car from Costco or know anyone that did? It almost seems like a no-brainer if Costco did sell it direct. I presume the reality is somewhere between that and them simply serving as a 411 service for dealerships. Do you know roughly where in this range Costco car service is?

  96. Liquor Luge says:

    chi (48)-

    A lot of your damn clients keep dying. Hmm…

    “Just went to client funeral service this morning…”

  97. Liquor Luge says:

    chi (54)-

    My idea of a “trigger warning” is when somebody warns the people around me on the day that I finally snap and go batshit crazy.

  98. Liquor Luge says:

    My daughter got trigger warned a couple of weeks ago in a seminar. Her response? “Go fcuk yourself”.

    I have raised my child well.

  99. Liquor Luge says:

    stu (70)-

    All Clad sucks, too. Just takes a little longer to wear out.

    Want the best? Shell out for Bourgeat. You’ll never settle for All Clad again.

  100. McDullard says:

    joyce, I agree. Disgusting and depressing stuff. This is the road towards a third world country. They should start taking off some of the discretionary power from judges on harsh sentences. If we have an opposite of how the public pushed for harsher sentences via accusations of “soft of crime”, something like “way too greedy and bloodthirsty”.

  101. McDullard says:

    Stu and others Re Sienna…

    2014 vs 2015 models have about 3k difference (MSRP difference was 2k and the incentives are off by 1k). Anyone with some insight into Siennas?

  102. chicagofinance says:

    If you are CostCo member, log in…..input desired car and you will have an identified dealership to contact…..the price is set by lowest bidder amoung participating dealers…..generally it is at cost to dealer….dealer supposedly is willing to sell at cost (or slightly less) because it gets volume credits from national…..I know it has worked with Subaru and Toyota….cannot vouch for anything else…..I have seen Monmouth county residents directed to Toms River dealerships as a frame of reference…..

    McDullard says:
    November 10, 2014 at 9:52 pm
    chi #96…
    Did you buy a car from Costco or know anyone that did? It almost seems like a no-brainer if Costco did sell it direct. I presume the reality is somewhere between that and them simply serving as a 411 service for dealerships. Do you know roughly where in this range Costco car service is?

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