Most debates about the causes of the Great Recession and the financial crisis accept the following premise: Too many homes had been built in the United States before 2007, and excessive construction was a fundamental cause of the resulting economic upheavals. Kevin Erdmann reject … | Continue reading
Over the past decade, housing affordability has emerged as a pressing issue in many American cities. In an annual survey of mayors conducted by researchers at Boston University, one-third of the mayors surveyed ranked housing affordability as one of the top challenges their citie … | Continue reading
This interview is a companion to an article about Alicia Juarrero’s ideas that is also published on The Bridge. Alicia Juarrero is the founder and president of Vector Analytica, Inc., a software development firm in Washington, DC. Her books include Dynamics in Action: Intentional … | Continue reading
An unconquerable anger has gripped the democratic world. The public seethes with feelings of grievance and seems ready to wreak havoc at any provocation. The spasm of fury that swept the United States after the death of George Floyd cost 19 additional lives and $400 million in pr … | Continue reading
Like most people I know, I am presently trapped in social isolation, stuck in a dreamlike parenthesis between what was once normal life and the uncertain struggles lurking on the other side. We are huddled, most of us—the fortunate ones—in our hiding places, waiting. That will no … | Continue reading
On November 5, 2019, Tyler Cowen spoke about his book, Stubborn Attachments, at Stanford University. Cowen’s talk is part of the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society's Arrow Lecture Series on Ethics and Leadership, named in honor of the late Nobel Prize winning economist and … | Continue reading
The financial system is a critical engine that keeps the economy vibrant. Serving consumers faced with unanticipated expenses, investors planning their futures, and small businesses looking to expand, it creates economic opportunities for all participants in society. In recent ye … | Continue reading
In the face of high and rising house prices, some localities are turning to inclusionary zoning as a way to increase affordable housing. Under mandatory inclusionary zoning, housing developers are required to provide a portion of affordable housing units in new market-rate develo … | Continue reading
My previous post outlined how landlords add value to the service of shelter. But if landlords presented no downsides, then no one would own their own homes. This post explains why people prefer to be to homeowners, and why our price-focused policies have frustrated affordable ho … | Continue reading
In parts nine and ten of this essay series, I used this basic accounting identity to think about property taxes as a way for the state to be a sort of silent partner in the ownership of residential property and to claim monopoly profits as taxes:Net rental value after maintenance … | Continue reading
In previous posts, I have outlined some ways in which supply and demand play out in housing markets. Since home buyers are both suppliers and consumers of housing, it is useful to think clearly about these different roles that they play.During the housing boom, there was an incre … | Continue reading
Why are prices in some sectors increasing dramatically even as economy-wide technology and productivity improves? Education and healthcare are notable examples of sectors seemingly stricken by constantly rising prices. Educational expenditures doubled between 1980 and 2005, even … | Continue reading
The Pessimists Archive is an entertaining Twitter account with a corresponding podcast that documents past examples of societal and government “moral panics” or “technopanics” associated with old technologies and forms of culture. | Continue reading
The Mercatus Center offers an easy-to-navigate, comprehensive resource that shows how CON laws correlate with healthcare market factors on a state-by-state basis. | Continue reading
Today we have a special bonus episode for you, giving you a look inside the Mercatus Center's newest project. Those of you who have followed our work over the past year or so may have noticed an increased attention to the idea of policy moonshots: high-risk, high-reward efforts a … | Continue reading
Many American cities that offer good job opportunities are not experiencing the population growth one would expect. Their lackluster growth is largely the result of regulations that make it difficult to build in coastal cities. The regulations that limit construction include zoni … | Continue reading