Multiple equilibria Potemkin village economic stimulus of the day

by  Tyler Cowen in

Fake businesses are to be used to lessen the impact of the recession on high streets in North Tyneside.

With 140 empty shops in the borough, council bosses think they have come up with a unique way of ensuring shopping areas remain as vibrant as possible.

The rest of the story is here.  For the pointer I thank Bob Cottrell, at The Browser.

Comments

Bock

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Fake businesses seem to keep Wall Street vibrant.

Don the libertarian Democrat

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To me, they look more like ads or staging a house for sale. They're meant to attract tenants.

Jens Fiederer

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Reminds me of the cargo cult: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cargo_cult

JackTrade

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It would make me happier if the fake businesses were as fake as possible, like a submarine parts store, or rent-a-monkey.

Or better yet, Simpsons businesses:

High Pressure Tire Sales
Get Out of Here! Travel Agency
Java the Hut

and the near decade-old but still one of the best:

The Family Jewels

Larry Rothfield

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I have been seeing this in the course catalog offerings of departments that have lost lots of faculty.

Albert Farangh

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Who owns these shops? The landlord should be doing this, not the government. Unless, of course, the government is the landlord... Is it? Why?
If the government owns them it should hire people to pretend selling nonexistent products. That would really stimulate the economy.
"We pretend to work and the government pretends to pay us."
Good luck with that, Tyneside...

Shabadoo

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Fake business names:

I don't give a crepe
secret Asian man

Seinfeld: the lumbar yard

Skip Intro

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The 18th & Vine area of Kansas City is full of fake storefronts made for a movie in the mid-90s; the fakes at this point significantly outnumber real venues in that area.

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