My Page: Lance Olsen
Insights : the U.S. housing/finance crisisThe most surprising thing about today's housing/finance crisis is that it caught so many millions of Americans by surprise, and leaves so many confused. That was understandable the first time, in the 1980s, when a similar boom of lending and building brought the S&Ls to a collapse. It's less forgiveable now. A few selected quotes can help bring some clarity to the confusion. [more]
New West Real Estate Conference: Past Present & FutureNew West's 2007 Real Estate Conference was based more on realism than boosterism. This year's conference thus has real promise of more of the same. Future conferences could add some key themes as permanent features. [more]
Financial meltdowns should be no surpriseThe most surprising thing about the current combined crisis of real estate, banking, and the economy is that anyone would be surprised. While many thoughtful people have described how such crises are shaped and driven, and while many find their world rocked each time the next one arrives, it always takes the next new recurrence to bring reality home. Perhaps a simple reading list may help avert the next one. [more]
The end of growthFor some decades now, there has been rigorous debate about limits to growth. But even the proponents of growth have seen it coming, and taken action in response. [more]
Northern Rockies Ecosystem Protection ActFor all the political controversy swarming around it, NREPA is still well supported by science. [more]
The much-dreaded “underpopulation” problemSome have hypothesized that human underpopulation is as great a problem as overpopulation, or even greater. A case history, briefly reviewed here, supports the adage that crisis and opportunity exist together. [more]
Booms Contrast with ConservationBooms as described by money gurus and the business/financial press. [more]
Consensus: Risk and RewardConsensus decision-making has gained increasing popularity in recent years. Dissenters are often dismissed as malcontents or worse. At the same time, though, it's worth remembering that authors including playwright Ibsen, psychoanalyst Freud, and real estate economist Robert Shiller have raised enduring questions about it. The take-home lesson is that consensus can impose risk as well as reward. [more]
