Jason Barr on Building the Skyline and the Economics of Skyscrapers

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4.7 • 4.4K Ratings

🗓️ 27 March 2017

⏱️ 78 minutes

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Summary

Why does the Manhattan skyline look like it does with incredible skyscrapers south of City Hall then almost no tall buildings until midtown? Jason Barr of Rutgers University-Newark and author of Building the Skyline talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the evolution of Manhattan as a place to live and work, and the mix of individual choices and government policy that created the skyline of Manhattan.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Econ Talk, part of the Library of Economics and Liberty.
0:08.5	I'm your host, Russ Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institution.
0:13.1	Our website is econtalk.org, where you can subscribe, comment on this podcast, and find
0:18.1	links and other information related to today's conversation.
0:21.0	You'll also find our archives where you can listen to every episode we've ever done going
0:25.3	back to 2006.
0:27.5	Our email address is mailadycontalk.org.
0:30.0	We'd love to hear from you.
0:31.6	Today is March 7, 2017, and my guest is author and economist Jason Barr.
0:40.1	He is a professor of economics at University of Rutgers, Newark, and author of Building
0:44.5	the Skyline, the birth and growth of Manhattan skyscrapers.
0:49.2	And that book is our topic for today.
0:50.8	Jason, welcome to Econ Talk.
0:52.1	It's great to be here.
0:53.8	Thank you.
0:54.8	Now we have the quote from the book about the shape of the Manhattan skyline and anybody
0:58.3	who's driven into New York City or flown over it is struck by this.
1:03.1	I've actually always wondered about it.
1:06.4	And so we're going to start with that.
1:09.2	And here's the quote from the book.
1:11.3	The Manhattan skyline has a particular shape.
1:15.2	Skyscrapers rise at the southern tip and then just seem to disappear north of City Hall.
	...

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