They Played, We Pay

Ben Bernanke, Chairman of the Federal Reserve, is holding the discount rate to a below-market 2% and, together with Henry Paulson, Secretary of the Treasury, has pulled out of the fire the collective butts of some prominent investment firms; as well as those of national and international banks, most of which speculated heavily in high risk, hybridized, mortgage-backed financial instruments.

Nonetheless, housing markets are still in a funk, and artificially low interest rates perpetuate poor lending practices, while possibly encouraging inflation. On top of this, the U.S. Congress and the Administration seek to bail out borrowers whose credit worthiness is sub-par.

Thirty-five years ago, the late, iconoclastic Harvard economist John Kenneth Galbraith wrote that, “Unless lower interest rates and easier borrowing are accompanied by good prospects for selling goods or houses, nothing much may happen.”

Well, nothing much is happening, except that the housing market hasn’t hit bottom yet, GDP growth is hovering barely above recession levels, and the U.S. taxpayer is picking up the tab for corporate mismanagement, poor legislation, anemic regulation, a deflated dollar, dead-beat loans, and an increase in core inflation.

If one wishes to empty a cesspool, one has to drain its contents, nor merely stir them about.

Free Community WiFi

Tom Perry, a popular columnist for the Courier News back when newspapers enjoyed higher circulation, was fond of saying that he was an inveterate newspaper junkie. He once wrote that when on vacation, he would always pick up a copy of the local paper to get a feel for the people and customs of the area.

I like to do the same. That’s how I came across a noteworthy story of how the City of Nashua, N.H. deployed a free, extensive WiFi network, one which blankets the downtown area with seamless and reliable Internet service.

Nashua’s wireless network was designed and deployed under the initiative of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, which worked with the support of a prominent consortium of area businesses and a California firm. John T. Barker, IT Director for the City of Nashua, directed much of the technical aspects of the project, working strictly as an unpaid volunteer, contributing, he says, approximately 100 hours of his time. The project was completed for about $40,000. Project bids exceeding $100,000 were thrown out.

We in Central Jersey can learn from this example: The patrons of businesses in downtown Somerville would benefit enormously from the provisioning of a free WiFi network which doesn’t break the bank.

Bridgewater Township, which has no central business area, could prod management of the Bridgewater Commons Mall to establish a free WiFi network to cover the entire Mall area. Similarly, such a network could be made available for public use in the Township’s new, showcase Municipal Building Complex, where space could be set aside for public use.

Even the Bridgewater-Raritan school district should consider opening up the nearby high school on Garretson Road for free public internet access: The school library, located just to the left of the main entrance is a perfect spot for such public use.

We all have the same DNA. Yet, as I travel about, I am always struck as I observe the number and diversity of communities outside of New Jersey which seem to be squeezing so much more out of a dollar than we in Central Jersey seem to have the will to do.


Note: According to Wikipedia, “Nashua was twice named ‘Best Place to Live in America’ in annual surveys by Money magazine. It is the only city to get the No. 1 ranking two times—in 1987 and 1997.”