About

Frank Braconi is the proprietor of this site. My intention is to create a thought-provoking and useful place to visit for people interested in the economy, demography and fiscal health of American cities. I’ll occassionally foray into macroeconomics, to the extent that urban trends shape the larger national economic outcomes and vice versa.

I received a master’s degree in economics from NYU and a Ph.D. in economics from the City University of New York. I have been a member of the faculty of NYU’s Schack Institute of Real Estate for many years, and have also taught in the urban planning departments of Columbia University and Hunter College.  From 1994 through 2006 I was the executive director of the Citizens Housing and Planning Council of New York, a non-profit research and public policy group. From 2006 through 2016, I was the chief economist for the New York City Comptroller.