The academic and political analyses of barriers to housing often don’t reflect political (I.e., democratic realities). My perspective is from that of a person who has spent a career working to get housing and infrastructure approved in California. First, local government largely sets the rules controlling housing. Those rules are largely determined by community desires, and often reflect antagonism to change (I.e., conservative values). Second, the state creates additional barriers (e.g, environmental regulations; tax policy). It is simplistic to label opposition to housing as a creature of liberal political views. I wish that Ezra Klein (who grew up in Irvine, California) would explain how it is that Irvine’s grew from a city of 75,000 in 1980 to 315,000 in 2025 — all built during the era of extensive environmental regulation. For this history, see “The Big Plan” by Pike Oliver and Michael Stockstill.
Nicely written, Jared - as usual. Glad to have followed you here from the great talk you did on New Bazaar. Appreciate the consistently pragmatic analysis and making it legible for us laymen.
Looking forward to the PK show and next week’s announcement!
We were so close to having another for years of growth and prosperity….it will be like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again if we DON’T get ahead of this disastrous administration…
So Elon stood on a stage in Wisconsin today and rambled a gobbleygook of economic disinformation.
Between you and Paul Krugman, can someone PLEASE line by line go thru this nonsense to counter how misled the American public are because he is a rich person?
I'm always bemused over the hand-wringing about expensive housing in cities. To paraphrase the great Sage Yogi Berra:
"Nobody lives there anymore. It's too expensive"
You don't need to be an economist to understand why housing in places where people want to live is more expensive than in places where they don't. It will always be so. Is it even possible to meaningfully reduce the price of housing in these areas? How steep is the demand curve? Is it even linear, and if not, what are the implications? It would seem that the supply curve also may be non-linear, as it's A LOT cheaper to build in less dense areas.
The academic and political analyses of barriers to housing often don’t reflect political (I.e., democratic realities). My perspective is from that of a person who has spent a career working to get housing and infrastructure approved in California. First, local government largely sets the rules controlling housing. Those rules are largely determined by community desires, and often reflect antagonism to change (I.e., conservative values). Second, the state creates additional barriers (e.g, environmental regulations; tax policy). It is simplistic to label opposition to housing as a creature of liberal political views. I wish that Ezra Klein (who grew up in Irvine, California) would explain how it is that Irvine’s grew from a city of 75,000 in 1980 to 315,000 in 2025 — all built during the era of extensive environmental regulation. For this history, see “The Big Plan” by Pike Oliver and Michael Stockstill.
Great write up!
Nicely written, Jared - as usual. Glad to have followed you here from the great talk you did on New Bazaar. Appreciate the consistently pragmatic analysis and making it legible for us laymen.
Looking forward to the PK show and next week’s announcement!
We were so close to having another for years of growth and prosperity….it will be like putting Humpty Dumpty back together again if we DON’T get ahead of this disastrous administration…
So Elon stood on a stage in Wisconsin today and rambled a gobbleygook of economic disinformation.
Between you and Paul Krugman, can someone PLEASE line by line go thru this nonsense to counter how misled the American public are because he is a rich person?
https://www.c-span.org/program/public-affairs-event/elon-musk-holds-wisconsin-supreme-court-electon-rally/657929
I'm always bemused over the hand-wringing about expensive housing in cities. To paraphrase the great Sage Yogi Berra:
"Nobody lives there anymore. It's too expensive"
You don't need to be an economist to understand why housing in places where people want to live is more expensive than in places where they don't. It will always be so. Is it even possible to meaningfully reduce the price of housing in these areas? How steep is the demand curve? Is it even linear, and if not, what are the implications? It would seem that the supply curve also may be non-linear, as it's A LOT cheaper to build in less dense areas.
Part of the resistance strategy would mean to kill the bully with his own bullet, if you know what I mean.