More journalism and less boosterism, please

No mention of why this property fetched such a high price…we see phrases like

the offering “garnered significant investor interest globally … due in part to the trophy quality of the asset in a submarket where the fundamentals are clearly improving.”

But no discussion of those fundamentals…that Seattle, like every city, has all the land it will ever have and the price to occupy and access it rises with demand, forcing the cost of living up. Forget all that stuff about money supply or the Wiemar republic and hyperinflation…the cost of land and its impact on the cost of living are constant and ubiquitous. The rising cost of land reflects the value of location and forces wages to rise for the businesses that value that location. Those who don’t command those wages are forced out, as shelter costs track the rising wages, like a buoy on the tide.

I guess I can’t expect the Business Journal to concern itself with these deeper issues but these articles are what we used to call “bead stringing” or “rip and read.” You just take the “news” releases from whatever industry you cover and print them, with a little light massaging or none at all.

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