In California, YIMBYs Pass Holy Grail Zoning Reform
Plus: San Francisco preliminarily passes citywide upzoning, a New Jersey town backs off family farm seizure, and YIMBY martial law ruled illegal in Hawaii.
Policy
MAGA Conservatives, Unions Want To Crush Driverless Trucks. Will the Trump Administration Listen?
A fight over an arcane trucking safety rule reveals the White House's split position on autonomous vehicle regulations.
Steamed NIMBYs Mandated Saunas To Stop New Housing
Several Lone Star cities are attempting to undermine new state-level zoning reforms by requiring new apartment buildings come with ritzy amenities.
New York City Wants $250,000 From SoHo Artists Just To Stay in Their Homes
The city that artists built now wants them to pay up.
Donald Trump's Antitrust Enforcers Continue Their Harassment Campaign Against Google
There is no hard evidence of Gmail discriminating against Republican campaign emails, but that’s no matter to the FTC Chairman.
Google's Industry Dominance Isn't Unprecedented—and It Isn't Forever
Failure of imagination drives the bipartisan energy around busting so-called Big Tech monopolies.
Trump Says Tariffs Make Us Richer. So, Why Are Most Countries With High Tariffs So Poor?
The U.S. is risking its liberty and its prosperity with such high tariffs.
Trump and Biden Tried To Break Up Google. Now, They've Both Failed.
A federal judge rejected the proposed structural remedies in the Google search engine monopoly case.
The Trump Administration's Fake Housing Emergency
The results of America's overly burdensome housing regulations aren't great. But they're not an "emergency."
Help Workers by Breaking Down Barriers to Labor Mobility
Labor Day is a great time to remember that we can make workers vastly better off by empowering more of them to vote with their feet, both within countries and through international migration.
Capitalism in the Cracks: How Japan's Microspaces Unleash Economic Experimentation
These spaces are so small that most cities would ignore them. Tokyo doesn't.
New Pew Charitable Trusts Repot on "How States and Cities Decimated Americans' Lowest-Cost Housing Option"
They have done so banning or severely restricting low-cost "single-room occupancy" (SRO) housing.
Report: 28 States Now Recognize Occupational Licenses From Elsewhere
Despite improvement, significant barriers remain to working many jobs.
Zombie Knives Don't Kill People, but Banning Them Kills Liberty
Britain’s crackdown on “zombie-style” knives shows how politicians blame objects instead of criminals—and how bans only hurt the law-abiding.
The Man in the Red Beret: What Curtis Sliwa Brings to New York's Wild Mayoral Race
The Guardian Angels founder battles Zohran Mamdani for the anti-establishment vote while he fights Eric Adams and Andrew Cuomo for the anti-socialist vote.
America's Housing Shortage Won't Be Fixed With 'One Weird Trick'
Highlighting individual wonky rules that drive up housing costs is good. But getting America building again is going to require more than a few marginal reforms.
Photo: A Tiny Monument to Eminent Domain Resistance in New York City
The roughly 25-inch plot has a mosaic reading, "Property of the Hess estate which has never been dedicated for public purposes."
Why Do So Many Jobs Require a License?
Becoming a taxidermist or hair braider shouldn't involve costly hurdles.
Georgia Woman Could Lose $30,000 After Local Government Denies Her Permit To Open Hair Salon
Despite meeting all the requirements, the Board of Commissioners in Clayton County made an arbitrary decision to deny Khalilah Few a conditional use permit to open her salon.
All You Need Is Love (and Deregulation)
Building our way to affordable cities does not require a government-led "post-neoliberal" approach to housing development.
Colorado's AI Law Is a Cautionary Tale for the Nation
A rushed attempt to regulate artificial intelligence has left lawmakers scrambling to fix their own mistakes.
Spirit Airlines May Go Out of Business Because of the Justice Department
The DOJ blocked Spirit's merger with JetBlue in 2024 over concerns about market consolidation, but markets also consolidate when failing firms go bankrupt and exit.
My New Boston Globe Article on Why Massachusetts Should Reject Rent Control, and Instead End Exclusionary Zoning
Rent control would only make the housing crisis worse. Zoning reform would make things better.
Andrew Cuomo Proposes 'Zohran's Law' To Fix the Unfairness of Rent Law Cuomo Signed
Plus: Why Blackstone is good, actually, and a Georgia judge rules for tiny homes.
San Francisco's All-Electric Ordinance Will Make Housing More Expensive
San Francisco’s new ordinance would impose all-electric building standards for new construction projects or buildings undergoing “major renovations.”
Keep Government Funding—and Political Meddling—Far Away From Olympic Athletes
Plus: Congress might blow up the pro sports business model, and Las Vegas is struggling
Minnesota Town Denies Family Permission To Build Affordable Housing Unit on Their Property
The Pepin family is suing the City of Blaine after the City Council used dubious reasoning to deny a permit for additional housing on their property.
The New York Times Doesn't Understand Men
Plus: The economic impact of tariffs, ethics concerns around Trump’s foreign business dealings, and a listener question on NCAA deregulation
Federal Court Appears Receptive to Arguments Against Unilateral Presidential Tariff Power
President Trump’s invocation of emergency powers to impose tariffs faces skeptical judges.
Update on Potential Condemnation of New Jersey Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts
After a public outcry, the scheduled vote on the plan to use eminent domain has been postponed indefinitely. If the Town of Toms River does try to condemn the church, there is likely to be a major legal battle.
You Shouldn't Need a License to Talk
Occupational licensing can be useless, harmful—and even a threat to free speech.
One Big Beautiful Housing Supply Bill
Congress considers a consensus housing supply bill while the White House cracks down on the homeless.
South Park Is Saving Free Speech!
Plus: Trump’s "woke AI" order, Gawker’s cultural legacy, and a listener question on deregulation and the BBB.
Michigan Wineries Win $50 Million in Fight Against Local Zoning Rules
A federal judge ruled that Peninsula Township’s former restrictions on music, events, and grape sourcing violated the rights of local wineries.
Here's How the AI Action Plan Will Accelerate—and Throttle—AI Innovation
The American AI industry doesn't need industrial policy, just freedom.
Did USAID Really Save 90 Million Lives? Not Unless It Raised the Dead
A Lancet study’s inflated numbers are being used to push a partisan narrative, not inform public policy.
Curtailing Federal Control Over Emissions Should Be Done by Congress, Not the EPA
By going through the courts, the Trump administration risks perpetuating the regulatory ping-pong that has plagued Washington, D.C., for decades.
What Neil Gorsuch Gets Wrong About Judges and Government Power
Plus: Ozzy Osbourne, RIP.
Virginia Is Using AI To Identify Illegal and Redundant Regulations
While other states are focused on regulating AI, Virginia is using the technology to repeal regulations.
So You Wanted Flying Cars?
Plus: Chinese state-sponsored hackers, Trump-Epstein bromance, and more...
Is Housing 'Out of Reach' for More Than Half of Workers?
Plus: Single-stair reform in Nashville, an inclusionary zoning lawsuit in Seattle, and a zoning-created full-service Popeyes in Illinois.
Rent Prices Are Falling Fast in America's Most Pro-Housing Cities
From January 2024 to January 2025, average rent in Sarasota fell from $3,290 to $1,886 per month.
Should the U.S. Have a Public Health Insurance Plan?
Yale’s Jacob Hacker and Sesame’s David Goldhill debate a government-run health insurance plan.
Conservatives Shouldn't Oppose California's Potential Zoning Reforms
You have rights to your property, not to control others.
Seattle Property Owners Challenge Program That Charges 'Affordable Housing' Fees for Building New Homes
A new lawsuit alleges that the city's Mandatory Housing Affordability program unconstitutionally penalizes property owners just for trying to build housing.
