The Great Zoning Crackdown on Data Centers
Plus: The Trump administration wants to roll back "disparate impact" regulations, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to roll back environmental review regulations, and L.A. waives fees for wildfire rebuilds.
Housing Policy
Yes, the Middle Class Is Shrinking—Because It's Moving Up
The real squeeze comes from government-distorted markets, not economic decline.
The 6 Ways Trump Tried To Control the Economy Last Week
From defense contracting and mortgage finance to credit, housing, and monetary policy, Trump is leaning heavily on command-and-control economics.
The Year of the Starter Home
Lawmakers across the country are introducing bills that would make it easier to build smaller single-family homes on small lots.
Trump's Proposed Ban on Institutional Investors Owning Single-Family Homes Would Make No One Better Off
While owning a very small percentage of single-family homes, large investors provide renters with more options and increase home construction rates.
Barring Institutional Investors From Buying Homes Won't Make Housing More Affordable - and Would Likely Make Things Worse
There is no evidence that institutional investors increase prices. Barring them from the market could actually exacerbate the housing crisis.
The Contradictions of Supply-Side Socialism
Zohran Mamdani signs executive orders to speed up new construction. His housing policy picks also want to abolish private property.
Yale Journal on Regulation Symposium on the 20th Anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London
I co-edited the symposium along with Eric Claeys and David Schleicher, and am also one of the contributors.
Unlearning History
Three decades after Massachusetts ended its disastrous experiment with rent control, voters are considering giving the policy another shot.
Is Zohran Mamdani Coming Around to Housing Deregulation?
New York's new mayor has moved away from some of his far-left beliefs, acknowledging that private businesses play an important role in homebuilding.
Would Star Trek's Transporter Destroy Cities or Save Them?
What a speculative technology can tell us about the demands for urban density and sprawl
Trump Blames Illegal Immigrants for High Housing Prices. Blame Zoning Instead.
Low-skilled immigrants would expand the supply of housing more than they increase demand, if local governments would just allow new construction.
Localism and the Limits of Regulating What We Love
When the perceived emotional harm from new development becomes a justification for state intervention, the law gets really arbitrary really quickly.
17 Ways Politicians Can Make Things Cheaper, Starting With Food, Health Care, and Appliances
A real affordability agenda would unleash free markets, not constrain them.
Sweating the Little Things
The freedom to build in-law suites and home additions is crucial, even if it doesn't get us all the way to housing "abundance."
Our Amicus Brief in the Pung v. Isabella County Home Equity Theft Takings Case
I wrote it (with help from others) on behalf of the Cato Institute and a group of takings and property scholars.
Non-Paywalled Version of My Washington Examiner Article on "Foot Voting, Housing, and Affordability"
The Cato Institute has posted one on its website.
What America Can Learn From Japanese Housing
On housing policy, America needs to be less fascist King Kong and more free-market Godzilla.
My New Washington Examiner Article on "Foot Voting, Housing, and Affordability"
We can make housing more affordable and empower people to "vote with their feet" by curbing exclusionary zoning. Left and right should support that instead of counterproductive snake oil like rent control, tariffs, and deportations.
The Horseshoe of Doom: Populists Left and Right Say America Is Failing. The Facts Don't.
When voters believe they're living through an economic apocalypse, they're willing to embrace the very policies that would create one.
In Connecticut, Zoning Reform Is Back From the Dead
Plus: A challenge to the Trump administration's shift away from "housing first" and reflections on the West's "Great Downzoning"
The Poverty Line Isn't a Vibe
A more robust welfare state won't change the fact that tradeoffs exist, even for relatively wealthy Americans who choose to have kids.
Uncle Sam Makes Thanksgiving Worse
We have many things to be grateful for this time of year. The government isn't one of them.
Muriel Bowser Was a Flawed Mayor. We'll Miss Her When She's Gone.
Bowser's apathetic pragmatism sustained D.C.'s turnaround success while keeping a hard-left approach to city government at bay.
L.A. Mayor Karen Bass Says You Can Defeat NIMBYism by Building Less
Plus: The DOJ and RealPage reach a settlement, the ROAD to Housing Act hits a speed bump, and Donald Trump and Zohran Mamdani talk housing policy.
A 50-Year Mortgage Won't Make Homes Affordable
Ultra-long mortgages create the illusion of affordability but lock borrowers into decades of extra interest because leaders won’t fix the supply crunch.
Can We Make Flophouses Great Again? And Should We?
The government destroyed the last century's privately provided housing safety net. Bringing it back is harder than you might think.
Mamdani's Win Offers Terrible Temptation for Democrats
Rent freezes will discourage construction, government-run grocery stores are a joke, and free buses will become roving homeless shelters.
Los Angeles City Council Votes To Lower Rent Caps on 650,000 Rent-Stabilized Apartments
The new rules would permit landlords to raise rents by a maximum of 4 percent per year, a decrease from the 8 percent maximum allowable increase under the current rules.
A New Lawsuit Says New York's Rent Law Is Forcing Landlords To Keep Apartments Empty
Landlords argue that rent caps on vacant units prevent them from financing the costs of legally mandated renovations.
The End of 'Housing First'
Plus: Shutdown over, Mexican murder rate, UES spews Mamdani hate, and more...
The Trump Administration's Latest Housing 'Fix' Could Inflate Another Bubble
Socializing risk to subsidize demand isn't a solution to the housing crisis, but it is a good start to another financial crisis.
The 50-Year Mortgage: Completely Fine or a Total Flop?
Mortgage experts are divided on the wisdom of a 50-year mortgage. No one seems to think it's the key to making homeownership affordable.
Federalist Society National Lawyers Convention Panel on Zoning, Property Rights, and the Housing Crisis
I participated along with James Burling (Pacific Legal Foundation), Prof. Peter Byrne (Georgetown), and Prof. Sara Bronin (George Washington University).
New York Voters Say Yes to Faster Housing Approvals
Does that mean they want more housing generally?
Good Riddance, Andrew Cuomo
The former governor had a bad record, a worse attitude, and zero vision.
6 Zohran Mamdani Campaign Promises That New York City Can't Afford
Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani has been elected mayor by promising New Yorkers “free” programs and services with their own money.
New Jersey Sticks With a Conventional Democrat
Mikie Sherrill will mostly continue business as usual—but with the possibility of some regulatory reform.
Election Day
What races in New York City, New Jersey, and Virginia can tell us about the future of housing policy.
Mamdani's Socialist Mayorship Will Make New York a Worse Place To Live and Do Business
His plans to offer "free" buses and daycare, freeze rents, and create city-owned grocery stores are expensive and proven failures.
Abolish Property Taxes?
Florida Republicans propose not one, not two, but seven different constitutional amendments to cap, cut, or even eliminate property taxes.
New Jersey Town Tentatively Agrees to Not Seize 175-Year-Old Family Farm
After a nationwide uproar over Cranbury, New Jersey's plan to seize Andy Henry's farm, the township says it's found another site to place a planned affordable housing development.
Zohran Mamdani's Socialist Housing Plan Could Crash New York's Rickety Rental Market
The city has the nation’s most regulated housing sector and the largest stock of government-owned and subsidized housing, and yet progressives blame its real estate troubles on the free market.
Democrats' Bill Would Let Federal Workers Skip Paying Rent During Government Shutdowns
Suspending federal workers' civil obligations during government shutdowns would be bad news for property rights, landlords, and tenants.
The Zoning Theory of Everything: Abortion Edition
Every political issue ultimately becomes a zoning issue.
