The Saltwater Decade

On the bright side, we're all cooking the most lovely pasta these days. 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said Friday that it will build an underwater sill to keep saltwater from moving up the Mississippi River, the fourth-straight year in which the structure has been needed to protect upriver water systems. 

The barrier will be constructed near Myrtle Grove in Plaquemines Parish. Due to a deepening drought, the Mississippi's flow rate has fallen and that is allowing saltwater from the Gulf of Mexico to travel north.

The Corps has built the sill every year since 2022. Prior to that year, the agency had only built a sill in the river three times: in 1988, 1999, and 2022.

The plutonomy is permanent

Here's David Dayen on the "K shaped economy."  It's a phenomenon that, as he points out in the article, has been understood for a long time now. But its acceleration coming out the other side of the pandemic has brought us to a place of acute pain for many, even as that pain isn't well reflected in the numbers measuring the overall economy. 

How can we hold together the concepts of soft employment numbers, higher inflation, and climbing retail sales? You can search for reasons to explain why U.S. consumers are lying, spending with abandon even as they despise the economic picture. Or you can simply reject the average and look to the differences within the income distribution. If you do, you reveal the K-shape: Consumer spending is being driven by the top 10 or 20 percent, and unemployment, food insecurity, and gloominess are driven by everyone else. Both groups are experiencing inflation, but only the lower-income earners truly feel it. Higher-income folks are happy to spend more money on goods and services, bolstered by fat wallets and stock portfolios.

This is not that novel an analysis—like I said, Citigroup, among many others, figured it out 20 years ago—but it has huge implications. First, on inflation, if the primary buyers of goods and services (the richest 20 percent) are not price-sensitive, there is no reason to moderate prices to ensure that customers have an ability to pay. If inflation is not going to meaningfully reduce volume of sales, you can keep marking up higher. This is consistent with the story of higher corporate earnings, with companies “raising prices when they can.”

The same companies are also finding ways to ditch workers, moving to “human-light” operations, in the bloodless parlance of corporate-speak. Some of this reflects productivity gains from automation, but much is out of the necessity of doing more with less, because investment is seen as folly with Trump changing his mind every few seconds on policies where companies need certainty to invest. CEOs are also drunk on DOGE-ing their workforces, aping what the administration did to its federal workforce this year. The results of grinding remaining employees to the bone are likely to be unsustainable, but the spending appetites of wealthy consumers will conceal this.

Is it "likely to be unsustainable," though?  I'm not so sure. That the economy runs entirely on wealth circulating only among the wealthy as they trade on increasingly abstract speculative assets is pretty much taken for granted at this point.  The 21st Century has been characterized by one massive calamity after another and yet no amount of human suffering has managed to shake us off this path.  It's certainly why your democracy, such as it is, doesn't seem to be hooked up to anything that matters anymore. I can't see any reason it won't just go on like this forever, really. 

"Debate me bro"

The key here is we're talking about the same problem we run into with "both sides" journalism, which, I think is something people understand better than they once did. None of this is intended to help the participants or observers achieve a better understanding of the topic. Rather, the idea is to legitimize morally indefensible acts and policy through false equivalence. 

Klein is eulogizing not a practitioner of good-faith political discourse, but one of the most successful architects of “debate me bro” culture—a particularly toxic form of intellectual harassment that has become endemic to our political discourse. And by praising Kirk as practicing “politics the right way,” Klein is inadvertently endorsing a grift that actively undermines the kind of thoughtful engagement our democracy desperately needs.

The “debate me bro” playbook is simple and effective: demand that serious people engage with your conspiracy theories or extremist talking points. If they decline, cry “censorship!” and claim they’re “afraid of the truth.” If they accept, turn the interaction into a performance designed to generate viral clips and false legitimacy. It’s a heads-I-win-tails-you-lose proposition that has nothing to do with genuine intellectual discourse.

The fundamental issue with “debate me bro” culture isn’t just that it’s obnoxious, it’s that it creates a false equivalence between good-faith expertise and bad-faith trolling. When you agree to debate someone pushing long-debunked conspiracy theories or openly hateful ideologies, you’re implicitly suggesting that their position deserves equal consideration alongside established facts and expert analysis.

This is exactly backwards from how the actual “marketplace of ideas” is supposed to work. Ideas don’t deserve platforms simply because someone is willing to argue for them loudly. They earn legitimacy through evidence, peer review, and sustained engagement with reality. Many of the ideas promoted in these viral “debates” have already been thoroughly debunked and rejected by that marketplace—but the “debate me bro” format resurrects them as if they’re still worth serious consideration.

Perhaps most insidiously, these aren’t actually debates at all. They’re performances designed to generate specific emotional reactions for viral distribution. Participants aren’t trying to persuade anyone or genuinely engage with opposing viewpoints. They’re trying to create moments that will get clipped, shared, and monetized across social media.

Actually I don't even like that "marketplace of ideas" gambit. I think that's actually part of the grift.  Asking everyone to conceive of a "marketplace of ideas" implies a state of nature defined by competition rather than collaboration. It's a kind of anti-social nihilism. But it's also deeply ingrained in American life in particular.  

Anyway, the real lesson here is an old one. Don't feed the trolls. 

The perception

Really nice to know the most important people in the city have their priorities straight.  What comes first is the "perception" that the city cares about profit at all cost. Everything else, including the health and well being of residents takes a back seat to that. 

GNO, Inc., the New Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Entergy and 23 other businesses and organizations sent a letter urging council members to reverse their position, saying that it could stunt the city's growth.

"As members of the business community, we ask that you reconsider the resolution opposing the Alabo Street Wharf project and the request for it to be moved to an alternative site," the letter said. "As entities and organizations dedicated to driving growth and prosperity in New Orleans, we are concerned that this action not only jeopardizes a single project, but also reinforces the idea that New Orleans is not a place to build and grow. This perception threatens to discourage responsible investment, limit job creation, and slow the economic momentum our city needs."

Anyway the signatories to this letter make all the decisions that matter. In this case, they don't really have to do anything since the council can't stop the grain train from happening with a resolution. (A key reason they felt politically safe passing the resolution in the first place. They love it when they don't have to actually do anything.)  The people who sent the letter, meanwhile, will also choose the next mayor and council, basically.   So even if they could do anything about this, they won't.  For now, though, everyone's perceptions are well managed. 

Werlein's Chicken Shack

Now we know why the Palace Cafe closed down in an acrimonious dispute over the building. Apparently, there was a different buyer on the horizon. 

The landmark Canal Street building that was the longtime home of the Palace Café is set to be sold to a member of the Motwani family, but ongoing lawsuits from Dickie Brennan’s restaurant group have stalled the deal.

At issue is the historic Werlein’s Music Building, a four-story commercial property in the 600 block of Canal Street, which was constructed in the late 19th Century and was the home to Philip Werlein’s flagship music store. Dickie Brennan & Co., owned by Brennan, his sister Lauren Brennan Brower, and Steve Pettus, operated the Palace Café there from 1990 until its 35-year lease expired in June and the restaurant closed.

The French Quarter is basically Motwanivania now.  If someone complains to you that the whole thing is just daiquiri shops and tacky overpriced souvenir stores, just tell them it is because those guys own everything down there. 

Although, I probably should change the title of this post. Apparently the guy buying Werliens is a completely different Motwani from the Chicken Shack Motwanis. Still, the larger point is, if you're trying to make sense of downtown New Orleans, you need to know your Motwanis. 

New Orleans family businesses

Motwani, 46, is a property owner and businessman who operates independently from his father Kishore "Mike" Motwani and his brother Aaron Motwani, the owners of several Willie’s Chicken Shack and Praline Connection outlets on Canal Street and in the French Quarter, as well as the Sucré pastry shop on Magazine Street and other businesses.

Aaron and Mike Motwani also operate Quarter Holdings, which includes several downtown projects that are converting buildings into multi-unit short-term rental operations that will be run by Sonder.

Lenny Motwani owns dozens of companies, according to business records, including ATM machines, condominium and apartment complexes, and commercial sites leasing to Brother's Food Mart and Magnolia Enterprises convenience stores. He also owns the Blue Bayou Restaurant & Oyster Bar on Canal Street, a block away from the Palace Café.

What does it mean for the future of the now former Palace Cafe?  Well there's a legal dispute with the Brennans still to be ironed out. But assuming the Motwani deal goes through, the article suggests iSeatz  CEO Kenneth Purcell may have something to say about it.  He's rumored to be part of the deal.  Apparently he has opinions about Canal Street anyway.

Purcell said that whatever happens next with the property it will have to recognize that the types of tourists and other visitors drawn to Canal Street have changed over the years.

"I hope that area has an opportunity to shine again," Purcell said.

Unfortunately the reporter didn't ask Purcell to elaborate on that. The "types of tourists" you see downtown haven't changed a whole lot since the Palace Cafe opened in the 1990s, as far as I can tell.  

"Qualified"

I wonder what what Pierre Villere is getting at here, specifically.  

A dozen of Moreno’s donors have contributed $12,000, the maximum allowed by state law. They include a mix of local donors and out-of-state donors, among them Zelia LLC, which is affiliated with Saints and Pelicans owner Gayle Benson, and Houston-based FMJR Management LLC. 

Three of Moreno's maximum donations came from financial consultant Pierre Villere, his children or corporate entities affiliated with the family. Villere described Moreno as a longtime friend and said she "is, without a doubt, the most qualified candidate we've had for mayor since Moon Landrieu."

"I moved to Mandeville 32 years ago because I got completely fed up with the crime and the potholes. And 32 years later, nothing has happened," said Villere, who consults for the construction industry. "It's hugely, hugely frustrating to see the lack of progress." 

You know the mayors who came after Moon and didn't happen to be Moon's son all had a particular thing in common. Maybe that's what this guy who has lived on the northshore for three decades is talking about with regard to "qualifications." It's hard to say. 

We need to start asking how

All of the candidates agree. We need more affordable housing.  They don't seem to agree on how much. 

At forums, campaign events, and in their platforms, the candidates have repeatedly touted the need for more affordable homes. 

Duplessis has said housing is "the defining challenge facing this city." He has made the grandest promise: producing 40,000 additional units — just under the 55,000 housing advocates say is needed — over 10 years.

In an August interview, Duplessis said he would aim to renovate blighted homes and roll out new incentives to encourage private sector development. 

In an email, Thomas committed to build and preserve 10,000 housing units over eight years. That goal is "based on what it would take over the next eight years to stabilize our housing market, close that affordability gap, and give families a real shot at staying in the neighborhoods they love," he wrote.

Moreno has said that the city needs 55,000 additional affordable units, citing affordable housing nonprofit HousingNOLA.

I don't know why they don't all just say 55,000 if that's the number that will make Andreancia Morris happy to hear.  It's just a campaign slogan anyway. There's no way any of them have a real plan to get there.  Certainly not by the usual means of handing out tax credits to developers. Which, let's face it, is the only tool any of these politicians knows how to use. 

But, as we all should have learned by now, that doesn't work. 

In 2023, ERG listed the building for sale. It sat for nearly a year before local developer Bryan Gibbs came up with a plan that called for preserving the nearly two-dozen rent-reduced units in the building.

But Gibbs was unable to secure a key piece of financing for his plan — a $13.4 million loan from the Louisiana Housing Corporation that seeks to create “middle market” or workforce housing, a category for those who earn 80% of the area median income.

In the New Orleans area, that amounts to about $46,000 a year for an individual or $52,500 for a couple.

Though Gibbs’ proposal met the agency’s criteria, there weren’t enough funds from the competitive program to go around.

The building in question there is the Pythian Market, by the way.  Once upon a time it was supposed to be a symbol of how we were private-public partnering our way to "recovery" after Katrina. When really it was, though, was just a tower of tax credit scams. 

Like everything else that happened here during that time. While we should have been helping people recover their lives and building a city that sustains them in the future, we were shoving piles of money into the hands of grifters.  That is the only thing our generation of civic leaders knows how to do. It's inevitable that it will keep happening when they assume their new offices as well. 

The decade of magical thinking

Entergy's CEO says they're not quite gonna make their 2030 climate goals after all. Dangit. I know they were always taking that really seriously, too. They must feel awful about it. Or maybe they don't?

In a speech Wednesday to more than 300 energy professionals, policymakers and students at Tulane University’s Future of Energy Forum, Marsh said the huge new power plants, expected to cost more than $3 billion, will improve grid reliability for customers statewide at a cost of pushing back some of its carbon goals.

“It makes it harder to reach our goals in the near term, but I think it has the potential to make it easier in the long term,” said Marsh, who heads the only Fortune 500 company headquartered in New Orleans. “2030 is going to be tough, but I think we still have a good shot at 2050, because Meta can bring its $2 trillion company to bear on this problem and help us clean up.”

How?  It doesn't matter. Magic, probably.  Check back in 2050 to see how it went.  

Boom times for Entergy

The greatest "economic pipeline."

More than 18 months after Louisiana officials began wooing executives from Meta to the state, eventually helping land the Facebook parent company’s massive artificial intelligence data center near Monroe, Entergy Louisiana CEO Phillip May said he sees more economic development potential in the state than at any time in his 40-year career.

“We have the greatest economic pipeline since the post-World War II years,” May said in an interview Tuesday. “We have growth from the traditional petrochemical sector and also a new set of opportunities.”

Sounds amazing. I can't wait to live in the future.  

Should probably remember that he said this, though. I have a feeling it might come up at some point. 

Environmental groups and advocates for renewable energy have criticized the plan and questioned whether consumers will get hit with higher utility bills if Meta bails on the plant after 15 years. May said he isn’t worried that will happen, and argued that Meta investments in transmission infrastructure, resilience upgrades and the plants themselves represent a benefit to customers.

“Louisiana customers will continue to get low-cost power from the plants,” even if Meta were to pull out after 15 years, May said, adding that by then, much of the grid’s infrastructure will need upgrades and that “customers will be paying for that as they would.”

In middle Atlantic and Northern states where large data centers have been operating for years, residential customers have seen monthly utility bills go up by 20% to 30% in some cases. May said he believes that is unlikely to happen in Louisiana, where utilities are regulated.

“Those states are deregulated,” he said. “If you’re in a competitive market like that and prices are at an all-time high, it gets passed along to everyone.”

We'll see!