The Economist declares there is no such thing as a Skyscraper Curse and they have the mainstream empirical evidence to support that declaration.
I wrote them a letter to the editor, but apparently they are not going to publish it. Here is my letter:
Dear Editor of The Economist:
Thank you for discussing my research and referencing my journal article from the Quarterly Journal of Austrian Economics. (“Is there such a thing as a skyscraper curse,” March 28) I would note that Mr. Barr, Bruce Mizrach and Kusum Mundra’s research actually supports my thesis that misaligned interest rates cause both record setting skyscrapers and economic crisis. The fact that skyscraper height and GDP are cointergrated is no surprise and actually supports the case for a skyscraper curse. Also, I claim no precision with respect to the exact timing of events, especially with respect to “announcements” and “completions.” Groundbreaking and record achieving dates are actually more relevant, yet are still imprecise. They say a picture is worth a 1000 words and I think you’re graphic of the timing of record setting skyscrapers and economic crisis says it all.
Mark Thornton, PhD.
Senior Fellow (economist)
Ludwig von Mises Institute
Auburn, AL 36830 (USA)
