Kamala Harris Is Not an Ideas Candidate
Columnists keep trying to find a coherent philosophy behind Harris' confused and contradictory policy agenda.
Policy
Tim Scott Wants to Deregulate Manufactured Housing
Plus: An alleged slumlord gets a "tenant empowerment" grant, Seattle's affordable housing mandates lead to less housing, D.C.'s affordable housing crisis.
Interview on the Eminent Domain Podcast
Bobby Debelak, new host of this podcast, interviewed me about a variety of topics related to eminent domain and property rights.
How Much Will the Major Presidential Candidates Steal From You?
Neither Harris nor Trump has a plan to address national debt, but they dramatically differ on taxation.
New Study on How to Address Public Ignorance About Housing Policy
New data shows that "housing supply skeptics" can be persuaded by evidence showing that allowing more construction reduces prices. But not clear this is a good road map for addressing the problem of public ignorance in the real world.
Biden Administration Gives $10 Million Grant to Non-Profit Accused of Running 'Inhumane' Slum Housing
The AIDS Healthcare Foundation has been dogged by accusations that it operates dangerous, dilapidated housing. Now, it'll distribute taxpayer dollars to tenant groups fighting for better living conditions.
The First Amendment Right To 'Greenmail' Developers
Plus: The Montana Supreme Court rescues zoning reform, and a new challenge to inclusionary zoning.
The Supreme Court Reined in Federal Regulators. What Happens Now?
The Court this year reversed Chevron, a decades-old precedent giving bureaucrats deference over judges when the law is ambiguous.
Kamala Harris Can't Stick to Her Story
Plus: Dutch housing policy makes literally no sense, Israel-Palestine gets litigated on campus (again), and more...
The Netherlands' Rent Control Disaster
The Dutch government's radical expansion of rent control is displacing tenants and aggravating a preexisting housing shortage.
The Government's Permitting Regime Is Choking the Economy
Housing costs, job availability, energy prices, and technological advancement all hinge on a web of red tape that is leaving Americans poorer and less free.
My New The Hill Article on How Trump and Harris Cater to Political Ignorance
Both propose awful economic policies that appeal to public ignorance.
What the Federal Government Can do to Alleviate the Housing Crisis
Harvard economist Edward Glaeser, a leading expert on housing policy, offers some ideas on how Congress can use conditional spending to break down barriers to housing construction.
Are You Living in San Diego's 'Worst ADU'?
Plus: The feds come for RealPage, a YIMBY caucus comes to Congress, and tiny Rhode Island enacts a big slate of housing reforms.
California Legislature Extends Exhausted Homebuyer Subsidies to Illegal Immigrants
There would seem to be little added fairness, and little added incentive for illegal immigration, in letting more people draw from a well that's already run dry.
Kyla Scanlon: What's Actually Wrong With the Economy?
Economist and author Kyla Scanlon discusses inflation, economic narratives, and the housing market.
Tennessee School Expels 10-Year-Old for Making a Finger Gun
The fifth-grader was punished as part of a law that requires students who make threats of "mass violence" be expelled for at least a year.
YIMBYs' Premature Victory Dance at the DNC
Kamala Harris' promise to end the housing shortage and adopt rent control shows that YIMBY ideas are just one of several competing housing policy agendas within the Democratic Party.
U.S. Officials Tried To Block Baby Formula Imports—During a Shortage
One official was concerned that lifting tariffs would lead to "lots of questions from domestic dairy producers."
Is Mobility More Important than Density?
Economist Tyler Cowen argues the answer is "yes." But much depends on what kind of mobility we're talking about.
Criminal Justice Reform Took a Back Seat at the 2024 DNC
The official Democratic Party platform no longer endorses abolishing the death penalty, decriminalizing marijuana, or repealing mandatory minimums.
What Walz and Vance Get Wrong About Opportunity and Mobility
Walz is wrong to attack Vance for leaving home to go to Yale. Vance is wrong to support policies that would close off similar opportunities to others.
Trump and Harris' Economic Plans Are Depressingly Similar
Both campaigns represent variations on a theme of big, fiscally irresponsible, hyper-interventionist government.
Kamala Harris' Affordability Agenda Is a Good Idea Backed by Terrible Policies
Americans need a politician dedicated to unwinding decades of government interventions that have driven up the cost of middle-class living.
Code Games
Plus: An appeals court sides with property owners seeking compensation for the CDC's eviction ban, a Michigan court backs the would-be builders of a "green cemetery," and Kamala Harris' spotty supply-side credentials.
Kamala Harris' Dishonest and Stupid Price Control Proposal
Government intervention caused inflation, and it threatens to make matters worse.
Harris and Trump Offer Terrible Housing Policies
With minor exceptions, their proposals are likely to do more harm than good.
Harris' Economic Illiteracy
Plus: Taylor Lorenz scandal, Chinese economy in trouble, tax-free tips, and more...
Americans' Support for Tariffs Plummets When They See Prices Rise
A new poll challenges the protectionist narrative currently dominating both sides of the political aisle.
San Francisco City Council Targets Free Speech To Cover Up Its Own Housing Failures
Desperate to control soaring rents, the city council bans rental data tools while ignoring its own role in the housing crisis.
Tim Walz's Other Stolen Valor Scandal
The Minnesota governor is being hailed as a YIMBY zoning reformer despite doing nothing of consequence on the issue.
The Housing Theory of Childless Cat Ladies
Would a YIMBY building boom rejuvenate urban family life or produce sterile, megacity hellscapes?
FDA Declines To Approve MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy as a PTSD Treatment
The FDA, which approved the protocols for the studies it now questions, is asking for an additional Phase 3 clinical trial, which would take years and millions of dollars.
Pacific Legal Foundation Report on "Locking Squatters Out: How States Can Protect Property Owners From Squatters"
The report has useful data on the scope of the problem, and recommendations on what can be done about it.
YIMBYism is the Ultimate Localism
If you want "local control" of land use, the best way to do it is let property owners decide how to use their property for themselves.
No Muslims In My Backyard?
Plus: Kamala Harris doubles down on rent control, Gavin Newsom issues a new executive order on housing, and the natural tendency to keep adding more regulation.
Grocery Store Booze Doesn't Hurt Mom-and-Pop Stores
But 11 states still forbid wine from being sold in grocery stores anyway.
VinFast Delays Production After North Carolina Seizes Property for Factory Site
North Carolina taxpayers have already spent over $96 million on the site, while state officials have seized multiple private properties.
J.D. Vance Wants To Control You With Taxes
People making the same income should be paying the same level of taxes no matter how they choose to live their lives.
RFK Jr. Pays Lip Service to the Debt While Pushing Policies That Would Increase It
It's good to hear a candidate actually talk about our spending problem. But his campaign promises would exacerbate it.
California Forever, Forever
The company needs a lot of government permission slips to build its planned new city in the Bay Area. It's now changing the order in which it asks for them.
What Kamala Harris' Coronation Says About the Democratic Party
Plus: A listener asks the editors about Project 2025.
Proposed New York City Hotel Regulation Threatens To Push Prices Even Higher
With prices skyrocketing, the city is weighing whether to regulate hotels further by barring them from hiring contracted workers.
J.D. Vance Says Childless Americans Should Pay Higher Taxes. They Already Do.
Donald Trump's running mate has discovered the most politically toxic way to demand the status quo.
