Imbalances

Back in history classes about the Great Depression, there was always a section about farmers killing livestock because they couldn't sell them. Meanwhile people were starving because of a lack of food.

It didn't make sense at the time. Seeing something like this though makes it easier.

For anyone in Southern California, these are going to be familiar. The Inland Empire has similar developments, and were the original source of the above insight.  These photos, on the other hand, are from a photographer who found the rows of perfectly completed, yet empty and unwanted housing an intriguing subject.

These "ghost estates" are in Ireland - formerly known as the "Celtic Tiger," previous to that the source of many over-educated expatriates, and before that a backward backwater of Europe.  It did well enough, though, that housing developments such as these were built - and then abandoned as the economy went downhill.

Meanwhile, in Buffalo, New York, then city is offering $1 for houses to people who are willing to move in and fix them up. Cheaper than demolition. Time will tell whether that will be required on the Ghost Estates.