Policy
Jared Polis Wants To Leave You Alone
Colorado's governor on parenting, partisanship, and sensible pandemic responses
Labyrinthine Zoning Rules Restricted Homeless Shelters During the Pandemic
As COVID-19 spread across the country, complex rules around land use and building permits made housing the poor and vulnerable effectively impossible.
You're Wrong About Disinformation
People believe and say things that aren't true all of the time, of course. But efforts by public officials to combat them may well make things worse, not better.
An Alabama Family Is Fighting a Losing Battle Against Eminent Domain
The Moore family has lived on their land for generations. Now the state of Alabama says their homes must make way for a highway.
Eric Adams Wants to Cut a Rug, Zoning Regulations
The mayor's 'City of Yes' initiative would peel back regulations on everything from dancing in bars to all-studio apartment buildings.
Saudi Prince's Plan for 'Walkable' City of Single-File Buildings Could Be Two Miles-Long Skyscrapers Instead
The idea is exactly as dumb as it sounds.
Biden Says Fighting Inflation Is His Top Economic Priority. His Antitrust Policy Would Make Inflation Worse.
Attacking big firms just for being big could drive up prices.
County Where It Took 50 Years To Approve New Subdivision Bans New Airbnbs
Officials in Marin County, California, argue a temporary moratorium on new short-term rentals in western portions of the county is necessary to preserve the area's limited housing stock.
Study: Jersey Girls' Refusal To Pump Gas Is Costing Everyone a Lot of Money
Research on the effects of Oregon's loosening of its self-service gas ban finds that allowing adults to pump their own gas increases supply and lowers prices.
The Traffic Death 'Crisis' Isn't What Bureaucrats Claim
Politicians overstate the situation, and to the extent there is a problem, it’s their doing.
Biden's Plan To Link Federal Transportation Spending to Zoning Reform Could Make the Housing Shortage Worse
The administration is encouraging counterproductive "inclusionary zoning" policies that often raise housing prices and reduce supply.
Bad Policy Creates Inflation and Opens the Door to Even Worse Ideas
When politicians break the economy, they hurt us in the short term but also create future opportunities to do harm in the name of undoing the damage they inflicted.
Is America's Primary Affordable Housing Policy Unconstitutional?
Pittsburgh-area developers argue in a new lawsuit that the city's requirement that they include affordable units in their projects is an unconstitutional taking.
Ninth Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Arizona State's Trademark Lawsuit Over ASU_Covid.Parties Instagram Account
The account posted items such as (in mid-2020), "ASU: No More Social Distancing. No More Masks. It Is Time to Party!"
Elizabeth Warren Introduces Price-Gouging Bill That Fails To Define What Qualifies as Price Gouging
The bill would penalize companies for price gouging during times of war, public health emergencies, or natural disasters—which would have encompassed all of the last two years.
This Michigan Town Repealed a Ban on Fortunetellers, but Might Break State Law if It Tries To Regulate Them
Petoskey's draft ordinance would require both "legitimate" fortunetellers and people pretending to tell fortunes to be licensed, calling into question the sense of licensing at all.
Eliminating Single-Family Zoning Isn't the Reason Minneapolis Is a YIMBY Success Story
Housing production is rising and rents are falling. But newly legal duplexes and triplexes make up only a tiny fraction of new development.
NYC Mayor Defends Decision To Handcuff and Strip Search Woman Selling Mangos on a Subway Platform
Maria Falcon doesn't have a business license. So New York police officers detained her and confiscated all of her merchandise.
Problems With the Supply Chain Began Before the Pandemic. Here's What Biden Can Do About It.
Protectionist policies stymie trade and make Americans poorer.
Why Pro-Choice Blue States Should also be Pro-YIMBY
Atlantic writer Jerusalem Demsas argues that blue states can't give "refuge" to people fleeing abortion restrictions if they don't cut back on zoning restrictions that lead to sky-high housing costs.
Will People Vote With Their Feet for Abortion Rights in a Post-Roe World?
The answer to this important question is highly uncertain. I tentatively predict a significant, but still modest, increase in abortion-driven migration.
Montana's Ban on Mask Mandates Is Stopping Local Governments From Enforcing Their Zoning Codes
Officials in Gallatin County, Montana, say a state law that prohibits local governments from forcing businesses to turn customers away is preventing it from cracking down on zoning code violators.
Joe Biden Takes Another Stab at Zoning Reform
The administration is proposing to spend $10 billion over ten years incentivizing local and state governments to remove regulatory barriers to new housing construction.
Twitter, Facebook, Netflix, and the Myth of Permanent Platform Power
Today's big powerful companies could become tomorrow's also-rans, no government intervention required.
Her Dream Was To Open a Vegan Tattoo Shop. Zoning Officials Shut Her Down.
"It's a lot to try and put this stuff all together all on my own, using my own savings, and then having to start all over," says Venus Vegan Tattoo owner Selena Carrion.
Maine Could Be the Third State To End Single-Family-Only Zoning
The Pine Tree State is embracing California-style housing reforms. It could run into California-style problems.
Running Bitcoin Miners Out of Town
Trying to sue or zone bitcoin mines out of town is the wrong response to the tradeoffs the industry presents.
Pittsburgh Will Force Private Developers To Build Affordable Housing
These "inclusionary zoning" policies have a record of increasing housing costs and suppressing new housing supply.
Alcohol Delivery Doesn't Lead To Underage Drinking
The history of wine delivery is pretty clear.
Study: St. Paul's Rent Control Law Primarily Provides Benefits for High-Income Renters
A new paper finds that lower income property owners are seeing the biggest falls in property values while high-income renters will get the biggest discounts on rent.
Justin Trudeau's Plan To Ban Foreigners From Buying Canadian Homes Won't Make Housing Affordable
Foreign buyers are a small percentage of new home purchases. Excluding them from the housing market does little to reduce housing costs.
Video of American Enterprise Institute Event on my Book "Free to Move: Foot Voting, Migration, and Political Freedom"
It includes commentary by housing policy specialist Emily Hamilton (Mercatus Center), and economist Filipe Campante (Johns Hopkins University).
Now There's a Trademark Issue for You
"They should be paying us for burnishment—not suing us for tarnishment."
The Pandemic Is Over. California's Pandemic-Era Eviction Protections Are Getting Extended.
A.B. 2179 would stop some local-level eviction moratoriums from going into effect, while leaving untouched ones that have been in place since the beginning of the pandemic.
A Future for Floating Homes
Dutch officials are updating zoning laws to allow homes that are fixed to the shore but rise and fall with the water.
Three More States Will Let You Carry a Concealed Weapon Without a Permit
Plus: Ukraine war developments, Biden's new tax scheme, and more...
A Fuel Leak From a Navy Facility Could Shut Down All New Development on Hawaii's Most Populous Island
Contamination from the Navy's Red Hill underground fuel facility on Oahu has reduced Honolulu's water supply by 20 percent. Water officials are considering a moratorium on new construction to conserve water.
San Francisco Passes Moratorium on Delivery Warehouses To Shake Down Amazon
City politicians and union activists have said the temporary ban on new delivery warehouses is meant to send a message that the company can't just open a new facility without first providing generous "community benefits."
America's Most Controversial Rent Control Law Is Getting a Hasty Makeover
A collapse in new development activity followed St. Paul voters' approval of a strict, vaguely written rent control ordinance. City and state officials are scrambling over how best to fix the new law.
Occupational Licensing Hurts the Vulnerable Without Helping the Public
Hispanics get slammed the hardest by licensing requirements that regulators can’t justify.
The Time the Federal Government Built a Flawed Housing Project and Tore It Down 20 Years Later
The government has learned nothing about affordable housing in the 50 years since Pruitt-Igoe came toppling down.
