WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. March 17, 2006: John Carlson, keen observer of financial trends in the city and in the finance business pens this observation:
Dear All:
According to an article in Crain's NY Business, the NY Times appears heading for a "downgrade."
Call the NY Times what you want ... "liberal" or "left-leaning", I still love the paper -- I read it, albeit, with caution.
Might it be "time" for the "Times" to face the reality of our free market economy.
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Note, the term "event risk" used in the article (Editor: which may be read at http://newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?newsId=13211) means the declining value of an entity (ie, the NY Times) that could lead to possible bankruptcy. The newspaper sector is indeed facing event risk, but so is White Plains .
Wait a minute!
Hey, I love White Plains.
Yet, the City of White Plains, already on Negative Outlook, and the White Plains School System, which is considering bonding (ie, borrowing) huge amounts of money, should consider where the NY Times is heading -- then take a good introspective yet creative look at the City's and School System's levels of spending and debt financing.
Remember, "bonding" means borrowing money. And, of course, borrowed money has to be repaid -- by ourselves and future generations. Moreover, we all know that money doesn't grow on trees.
Why look introspectively? Why think creatively? Remember, the readers of the NY Times and the citizens of White Plains have something in common -- there is a limit to how much more they will endure price and tax increases.
Sincerely,
John Carlson
