Source: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Census When we are on the road for research trips, we usually try to check the economic pulse. Last week, Shinya spent a week in San Francisco to attend an annual investor’s meeting of our managers. As a tech-savvy business traveler, we frequently use AirBnB which offers more than 50% discount to equivalent hotel prices (even after the additional state tax!). Shinya stayed at one of the Airbnb apartments in The Mission and explored the neighborhood. Over the last few years, Shinya noticed a worrying increase in the number of ‘bums’ (a colloquial term for the homeless). Interestingly, San Francisco’s unemployment rate is among the lowest for the U.S. major cities. After peaking at 9.2% in June 2009, the city now enjoys a 3.2% unemployment rate as of September 2016. Quite strangely, during the same time period, the number of households receiving food stamps (officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) increased from 1 million in 2008 to 2 million in 2016. Today, 16.3% of households in California receive governmental nutrition assistance—almost twice the 8.1% figure in December 2008. As we know it, the most-cited unemployment statistic is based on surveying and estimates, and thus conveniently excludes those who have ceased seeking jobs. The figure tracking those on food stamps, however, is more immune to this sort of self-selection.
Another Dream of Californication
Another Dream of Californication
Another Dream of Californication
Source: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Census When we are on the road for research trips, we usually try to check the economic pulse. Last week, Shinya spent a week in San Francisco to attend an annual investor’s meeting of our managers. As a tech-savvy business traveler, we frequently use AirBnB which offers more than 50% discount to equivalent hotel prices (even after the additional state tax!). Shinya stayed at one of the Airbnb apartments in The Mission and explored the neighborhood. Over the last few years, Shinya noticed a worrying increase in the number of ‘bums’ (a colloquial term for the homeless). Interestingly, San Francisco’s unemployment rate is among the lowest for the U.S. major cities. After peaking at 9.2% in June 2009, the city now enjoys a 3.2% unemployment rate as of September 2016. Quite strangely, during the same time period, the number of households receiving food stamps (officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) increased from 1 million in 2008 to 2 million in 2016. Today, 16.3% of households in California receive governmental nutrition assistance—almost twice the 8.1% figure in December 2008. As we know it, the most-cited unemployment statistic is based on surveying and estimates, and thus conveniently excludes those who have ceased seeking jobs. The figure tracking those on food stamps, however, is more immune to this sort of self-selection.