Or is it Kairos Shen’s love of glass towers? Either way, the Globe’s Rachelle Cohen rightly isn’t happy with the Wu administration’s proposal to allow giant glass towers in Downtown Crossing – and the controversial way the proposal came about. … More on the height-rule plans at BisNow-Boston. … I touched upon the same issue a few weeks ago (scroll down to ‘Not quite NIMBY-ism …’).
Month: January 2025
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Wu’s love of glass towers
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Steve Bannon: The HBS grad, ex-Goldman Sachs banker and former Hollywood-producer talks populism – and gets some things right
My first takeaway from the NYT’s Ross Douthat fascinating talk with Steve Bannon: Bannon is absolutely convinced he’s not one of the elites even though he’s spent most of his adult life hovering at the tippy-top of the most elite of elite institutions. … The second takeaway: he loves to talk – much of it about himself and his role in shaping today’s politics. … The third takeaway: He’s an angry but intriguing man who makes sense on some of what ails America. I liked his description of the tech moguls now “crawling on their bellies” to Trump; George W. Bush’s weaknesses leading to the “worst presidency in the history of our nation, except for James Buchanan’s”; unfairly blaming Blacks and Hispanics for the 2008 financial crisis caused by the “entire establishment,” etc, etc. … Dems ignore some of what Bannon says at their peril. He’s not wrong all the time.
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Amateur hour: White House rescinds order on federal grant freeze
They’re know-it-alls who know so little about the government they run. … Remember: this is their second time around overseeing the federal government. Yet they didn’t have a clue what they were unleashing when they issued the initial freeze order. … Here’s the AP story on the administration’s freeze flip-flop.
Update – Wait! They’re now saying OMB’s rescission order doesn’t really rescind the spending freeze, causing more confusion on top of confusion. …
Update II – Another policy, more confusion, this one over buyouts.
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Caroline Kennedy’s RFK Jr. broadside: exposing the Bouvier-Kennedy divide
Of all people, I thought of my late mother while watching the extraordinary video of Caroline Kennedy’s harsh criticism of her cousin, RFK Jr., on the eve of his confirmation hearing as Health and Human Services secretary. The NYT gets it right: Her opposition to RFK’s cabinet appointment seems to go beyond professional and personal objections. It’s also about the “battle over who gets to claim the mantle of the Kennedys.” … But my late mother, who loved following all-things Kennedys and who had that incredible Irish knack of sensing class and cultural divides, would have taken the analysis further, pointing out, as she did to me on numerous occasions over the years, how Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy, after the assassination of her husband, raised Caroline and John F. Kennedy Jr. slightly apart from the rest of the Kennedy family. It seemed as if Jacqueline was shielding her children from the excesses of the rest of the Kennedy clan, my mother used to say. …
Then came Caroline’s harsh words yesterday about RFK Jr.’s alleged animal cruelty (yes, the blender part) and how as a youth he “encouraged” siblings and cousins “down the path of substance abuse” and ultimately to “addiction, illness and death,” etc. … And the NYT does bring up JFK Jr.’s once biting remark about his cousins being “poster boys for bad behavior,” etc., etc. … The Bouvier-Kennedy divide. There it is.
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‘What is the honorable way to oppose while hoping for the best …’
Peggy Noonan at the WSJ asks all the right questions when it comes to how to react to all things Donald Trump:
“What is the honorable way to oppose while hoping for the best, to oppose while being as quick to recognize progress as to see failure, to oppose while appreciating any outcomes that are healthy for the United States of America? And without forgetting why you oppose? We’ll find out.”
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Is Massachusetts ready for its own DOGE-like efficiency agency?
The Mass Opportunity Alliance, a recently formed business group, is not-so-subtly floating the idea (scroll down past its UI blast) of a Massachusetts version of President Trump’s DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), saying its recent survey of state residents showed strong support for an “advisory commission that would recommend bureaucratic reforms and cost saving strategies for the state government.” … Next up: Maybe a statewide ballot push for such an agency? … You can definitely feel it in the political air: growing frustration with state and local government tax-and-spend policies in Massachusetts. Some evidence of this: Rob Gavin’s recent Globe Trendlines criticism of the state’s high cost of living — and government’s seeming obliviousness to its role in those high costs. … Then there’s Jon Keller, who sweet talks in circles till he gets to the point: Gov. Healey’s ‘candy tax’ idea is leaving a sour taste in the mouths of a lot of people. His ominous warning: “Budget implosion and its tax-hike antidote has been political poison here for years, and Healey seems unlikely to be immune.” …
So to answer the question in the above headline: Something’s definitely stirring out there, a local frustration with high taxes and costs in Massachusetts, and so, yes, I think voters are ready for a BOGE-like approach to problems. … Btw: the Mass Opportunity Alliance item is via Scott Van Voorhis’s excellent Contrarian Boston. And here’s more on the alliance’s September launch via the Globe.
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‘Mayor Wu kindly invited to Washington to be eviscerated in front of Fox News …’
Adam Gaffin’s Universal Hub strikes again. The lede on his post is also pretty damn funny. …
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AI’s ‘Sputnik moment’: The launch of China’s DeepSeek
Forget about top business stories of the week. The unveiling of China’s DeepSeek AI model last month may be remembered as one of the top business stories over the past year and beyond – and its significance is only now sinking in on Wall Street. From Reuters: “DeepSeek’s ‘Sputnik moment’ prompts investors to sell big AI players.” … Still waiting to see how this plays out in Boston’s tech world. But judging from this WSJ piece, it’s going to involve a certain amount of awe : “Silicon Valley Is Raving About a Made-in-China AI Model.” … I missed this Fortune story from last week (warning: long headline): “The U.S. just pledged hundreds of billions to protect its AI leadership. A Chinese startup with a ‘joke of a budget’ may have already undercut those hopes.”
P.S. – For all you young ones: We went through something like this many moons ago.
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‘Is Gov. Maura Healey tacking toward the center ahead of the 2026 gubernatorial race?’
The Herald asks a good question. The answer is: Yes. …
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Top business story of the week: Trump’s use of tariffs for non-economic reasons
It’s only Monday morning and we already know this week’s top business story. … I thought he might restrain himself by using tariffs, or the threat of tariffs, mostly in the economic sphere. Nope. … According to the NYT, they’re beating their chests at the White House over Columbia’s capitulation: “Today’s events make clear to the world that America is respected again.” … No, it makes clear to the world that America has lost its mind.
Update — No sooner did I write this business-story-of-the-week post than it was overcome by DeepSeek AI events. Silly me. See ‘AI Sputnik moment’ post above.
Hub Blog 