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In the 1980's people wrote about malls as cultural centers, as temples to shopping. Now, they're dying.
Many observers are speculating about the growing trend of so-called dead malls: once-flourishing, large retail spaces that now have a high vacancy rate, low numbers of pedestrian traffic, or the lack of an "anchor" store (typically a department chain). Is it because of economic recession, or stagnant middle-class wages and growing income inequality? Or has the death of these malls been hastened by the rapid growth of online shopping?
It's difficult to say, but the dead mall phenomenon is becoming a cultural item of interest -- for retail historians, urban explorers and documentarians alike. We may read about dead malls in The New York Times or The Atlantic, but film footage can say much more than words.
Is Amazon to blame?
(Score: 2) by migz on Tuesday April 25 2017, @08:16PM (1 child)
Yup. All these malls are bust, and the banks are stopping them from being used productively because then they would have to admit they were too greedy in the first place, and take the losses. If the banks did that then they would be bust (see sub-prime loans). This garbage is possible because of the government, the Fedral reserve, and fractional reserve banking.
Now what is worse, is that people pension money has been ploughed into these things. So... they can either go pop, and be put to productive use. Or the powers that be can put their fingers in their ears and go la-la-la and pretend that there is nothing wrong. Cue ZIRP and bailouts.
Meanwhile the "real" economy is tanking, and this fascist wall street + fed + government illusion is starting to break down. The cure is to raise interest rates, until nobody wants to take fed money and then do away with it. If any of the banks go bang along the way, tough. They screwed it up and they need to go out of business, so that the real world can get back into control. Finally the government needs to bugger off and get rid of all the red-tape that makes it simpler for companies to make stuff overseas (and keep their profits there). Also lower taxes. Everybody's taxes. Taxes are just burning money. The government is colossally incompetent at doing everything (except perhaps colossal incompetence), they should not be entrusted with peoples money. People are much better placed to spend their own money, then government.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Tuesday April 25 2017, @10:09PM
This garbage is possible because of the government, the Fedral reserve, and fractional reserve banking.
This is an accounting gimmick which generates imaginary reserve. It would work even in the situation where fractional reserve (however you choose to count that) somehow doesn't happen. The government and its agencies are merely enabling the necessary changes in accounting rules.