The largest institutional investors and wealthiest Americans want to buy your home. Is this a nefarious plot to create a neo-feudal corporate empire for the elite? BlackRock manages $9 trillion in assets for pension funds and ETFs. Institutional investors manage $30 trillion (50% larger than the U.S. GDP). These firms essentially own Wall Street. Don’t believe me. … [Read more...]
Bill Gates vs. LDS Church
The middle class is shrinking in Utah at an alarming pace because of three fundamental problems: Wages for the past ten years in Utah have remained stagnant. Home prices for starter homes have increased by nearly double. Only tech-sector or six-figure income workers are able to afford starter homes in Salt Lake County Why is this happening? The best clues come … [Read more...]
Why Do Local Restaurants’ Closures Matter if We still Have Chick-Fil-A and Burger King?
Covid mandates and forced government closures have destroyed thousands if not millions of small businesses across the United States. Due to Covid, government leaders were given the ability to choose winners and losers. And the big winners were big corporations and the big losers were small businesses. All big-box stores were deemed “essential”, all restaurants without a … [Read more...]
Utah’s Real Estate Crisis: Growing Gap Between Rich & Poor
Utah has long been an incredible state for incubating small businesses. It's a place where nearly everyone has an idea that they dream up and turn into a prototype or business concept. But how will the current housing crisis impact small business start-ups in Utah? As the average price of homes in Salt Lake County now approaches $500,000, and our homeless population keeps … [Read more...]
Did You Know that the Computer Graphics Revolution Began in Utah?
Two men who stand out as the foremost Tech Pioneers in Utah are without a doubt David Evans and Ivan Sutherland. This dynamic duo used their math, physics and electrical engineering skills to revolutionize computer graphic imaging technology. They literally built the first computer graphics simulation engines, and they and their students pioneered the field of CGI (Computer … [Read more...]
The Unintended Consequences of Utah’s Tech Boom
Utah's tech boom has been incredible. There are more tech jobs in Utah per capita than any other state in the country, and our tech economy keeps growing. Utah has minted tech billionaires such as Ryan Smith (who recently bought the Utah Jazz), and Josh James who is taking Domo to new heights. But as more tech moguls move in and want to inhabit the loveliest places along the … [Read more...]
Utah’s Disappearing Farms
Utah's farmers markets are booming, the local food movement is stronger than ever, and local farmers-market farmers are making record profits ― so why are we building over the top of the best remaining farmland in Utah? The simple answer is that the land, in the eyes of our political leaders and developers, has far more economic value as homes and apartments than as farms. … [Read more...]
Cash or Crops? Is Clark Burgess Selling His Orchards this Year?
Clark Burgess is in an animated conversation with Curtis Rowley concerning the repair of an oil pump in the Foothills of Alpine, Utah. These are two farmers who love what they do, but practice their fruit growing in very different scales of operation: Burgess on 10 acres; Rowley on 2,000 acres. The flourishing apple trees in neat rows surrounded by the snow capped Timpanogos … [Read more...]
The High Cost of Cheap Food
In this year’s 10th annual Farm issue, we thought we would consider taking a look back at how much our food landscape has changed here in Utah. My Grandma told me that when she was a little girl growing up in Murray, immigrant Japanese farmers were famous for their amazing produce. Other farmers raised hens for eggs, and others kept pigs or cows. Most of her family’s food … [Read more...]
Is Capitalism Racist?
The Culture War Part II Marxist views and teachings are gaining a resurgence on University campuses. Socialist ideas are on the rise because there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor. The rich seem to be getting richer and the working poor’s wages seem to stagnate. Furthermore, there is a growing culture of people who simply do not want to work in a corrupt system. … [Read more...]