I haven't seen, heard or read of much work being done on a cost plus basis in Iraq. Initially, when no hard money bid could be realistically figured, but now work is being subbed out in well defined parcels. Bechtel is expecting, encouraging and getting hard competition for sub contracts. Everyone agrees that 80% of the engineering and actual construction will be done by Iraqi's, as it should be. No one, as far as I can tell, is being hired for Iraq, Afganistan or Qatar jobs at an entry level. Proven journeyman level positions are available.
Pretty much anywhere in the sunbelt. Have him look for a newsagent that sells out-of-town newspapers and look in them for jobs and new house sales. I'm in the RTP (Raleigh) area of NC and the housing starts don't seem to have slowed down.
The growth is phenomenol. Land speculators and developers are raking in the cash. The buyers are retirees who definitely need medical services. The area has one of the highest median home prices in the nation (lot's of rich single women). There is NO STATE INCOME TAX.
The WSJ recently had an article on which states were losing people and which were gaining. In general the states that went for Gore are losing people and those that went for Bush are gaining. This is for period 1995 to 2000
New York -874,248 Calif -755,536 Florida +607,023 Arizona +316,148
These are the net figures. California had 2,204,500 people move out, but enough move in that the net is 755,536 moving out. Calif is one of the warm climates.
Yep. I hear ya. The Tampa - St. Pete-Clearwater area is growing up fast as well. Land that was vacant for 20 years or more is suddenly being bought up and built up. The ads for electricians, carpenters and such abound in the newspapers.
Machine shops are a bit slow. CNC shops are doing very well.
The entire West is getting congested and losing its original appeal, but if he really wants to ride the growthmania train, Phoenix AZ may be the prime spot. That area has plenty of overpopulation to fuel construction 7 days a week. And it's all in an area where the natural water supply can't support it. But Man can't let that be an impediment. We'll just find another way to tap the already depleted Colorado.
The truth is, most of what we call "economic growth" is linked to never-ending, water-draining, land-grabbing, smog-causing population growth, which makes it a pyramid scheme by any other name. But since it "creates jobs" it has to be a good thing, of course. We MUST keep those housing starts rising and those construction jobs thriving or we're abandoning this Biblical mandate:
"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28)
E.A.
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any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague.
Yes indeed, another area with little natural water that we feel compelled to jam with as many people as possible. When the water finally runs out (currently projected for 2007) they'll have to build some massive canal to keep the sprawl and smog production on target.
In fact, some people would like to fill the western U.S. with people via elaborate water projects. Let's not stop until this country has at least a billion people! It will "create more jobs" you know.
E.A.
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any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague.
It's mostly fueled by overpopulation but people like to call it "progress" because growth is all they know and they're too shallow to question its intrinsic purpose. And you can thank unbridled immigration for a lot of those numbers.
E.A.
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any other species behaved like Man we'd call it a plague.
Notice the Past Tense useage by the individual with Yuck at the end of his email addy..
Gunner
"At the core of liberalism is the spoiled child - miserable, as all spoiled children are, unsatisfied, demanding, ill-disciplined, despotic and useless. Liberalism is a philosphy of sniveling brats." -- P.J. O'Rourke
There was, just recently, a list of the fastest growing areas in the US. I remember the Chandler/Gilbert/Tempe Az.area (south Phoenix), Las Vegas, Nv. Chula Vista, Ca. as 3 of them. Shouldn't be too difficult to search this on the web.
And Florida. But remember, prevailing wages in these fast growing areas aren't that great (California excluded, but the cost of living is a lot higher there), so while your friend is trying to make a lot of money, he is competing against people that just want to get by. And a lot of the medical stuff that doesn't involve extensive patient contact is being outsourced to India, et al.
I like NV, IA, and ID the best. I'd stay away from Las Vegas, NV and Mesa, AZ, b/c long-term water shortages.
If you take a map of the USA, and draw a line from Denver to Houston to San Diego and back to Denver, you've pretty well captured in broad terms all the high growth areas in the Southwest.
That said, water is going to be a major issue in the Southwest, especially since the ruling elite wants to privitize water resources here in the USA.
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