NY Times on the Pittsburgh Economy
I’m about to start the last day of meetings here in Taipei. There have been many interesting research presentations and hallway conversations, as well as ceremonial activities (e.g., a banquet with the Taiwan State Minister last night) typical of an academic symposium in Asia. But like the United States, the “buzz” here is all about the downturn in the economy and a new government.
Last year a new party took over the government, one committed to major, albeit controversial changes in the country’s interactions with the Mainland. But the really big news is the economy. Taiwan’s is an export economy, and exports are down more than 40%. That number alone is shocking, but when you add the fact that most of the key exports are in sectors with razor-thin margins (semiconductors and electronic products), it is no surprise that many industries here are seeking the Taiwanese equivalent of government bailouts. What this will all mean for major research programs (such as iCAST) is unclear at this point.
Anyway, these issues are on my mind this morning because of an article in today’s New York Times on Pittsburgh’s economy entitled, “For Pittsburgh, There’s Life After Steel“. Quoting:
Unemployment is 5.5 percent, far below the national average. While housing prices sank nearly everywhere in the last year, they rose here. Wages are also up. Foreclosures are comparatively uncommon.
The article explains that Pittsburgh went through, in the 1980’s, what much of the country (and especially Detroit) is going through now. This city remade its economy on medicine, computer science, and banking, and while this remaking was painful, it has made the region stronger in many ways. An interesting read.
Peter Lee @ January 8, 2009
I have lived in the Pittsburgh area for over 30 years and I can assure you that article was too kind to Pittsburgh. For starters the burgh has lost more than half its population from its peak and is still declining. The article talks about the low foreclosure rate, however, the article doesn’t point out that half of the cities dwellings are vacant and dilapidated, or that it is easy to buy a single family home in the city for under 10k! Banks tend to not lend money on these homes and therefore ill effects foreclosure stats While it does appear that the worse is behind us, we are far from returning the economy to where it once was. The main reason the health industry flourished here is because most of the youth has moved out leaving a disproportionate amount of elderly and baby boomers that need more health care than a younger population would.