[gd2]

Seems like an important topic to discuss. Serious question, how do should I understand the concluding sentence/word,

"But walk through parts of San Francisco today, and you get a different sense altogether: not an uncanny effectiveness, but a panicked swirl of homeless capital."

What is meant by "homeless capital"? does it mean SF is the capital city for homeless like Washington DC, or does capital go to opposite of venture capital, like in banking/finance/Wall St?

[usefulcat]

> What is meant by "homeless capital"?

I take it to mean capital (in the banking/finance sense). So "homeless capital" might suggest that there is more invesment money available than there are good places to invest it.

[pjc50]

Both; there is so much venture capital sloshing about that is in search of a "home", an investment with a positive return. This results in all sorts of weird things getting funded - but only weird things. It's much better to lose money on Juicero than it is to lose money on opening a restaurant. And of course it also alludes to the homeless humans sleeping outside the empty buildings.

[tiredwired]

The last 2 paragraphs mention venture capital and VC dollars. I think the "homeless capital" refers to funds that are not being invested and have not found a "home" in new long-term businesses.

[OnlineCourage]

Is that really a "serious question?"

There are a lot of homeless people in San Fransisco. Nothing else needs to be construed.

[eckmLJE]

Possibly the phrase 'homeless capital' could mean human capital that is experiencing homelessness? The way the clause is constructed is pretty unclear. It could just mean there are a lot of homeless people, and is failing at being poetic.

[whitebread]

The author personifies capital earlier in the piece when he writes “noncommittal capitalism.” The way he structures the last sentence does seem to point towards the idea that the capital in SF is homeless.