Donald Trump and Ben Carson Go Full NIMBY in The Wall Street Journal
The Trump administration has abandoned its own promising housing reforms in favor of toxic culture war politics.
Policy
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp Drops Lawsuit Against Atlanta's Mask Mandate
Plus: California Judicial Council sets expiration date for eviction moratorium, the U.S Justice Department accuses Yale of discriminating against whites and Asians, relations thaw between Israel and the UAE, and more...
Trump Appeals to Progressive Voters With Promise To Defend Suburbs Against New Housing Development
NIMBYism comes in many different ideological stripes. Fewer homes and higher rents is always the result.
Trump's New Fair Housing Rule Prioritizes Toxic Culture War Politics Over Deregulation
The president has ditched a promising, free market-influenced revamp of Obama-era fair housing regulations in favor of a legally dubious new rule that's heavy on local control.
County Wants Answers From Treasurer Who Seized Man's Home Over $8 Tax Bill
Officials in Oakland County, Michigan, are worried they could be on the hook for more than $30 million in payments to former homeowners victimized by an aggressive forfeiture scheme.
Boulder Refuses To Lift the Cap on Unrelated People Living Together. Housing Advocates Plan To Sue the City.
The Bedrooms Are For People campaign would repeal the city's existing limits on unrelated people living in the same house.
The Federal Government's Eviction Moratorium Expires This Week. Will an Eviction 'Tsunami' Be the Result?
Democrats in Congress are floating plans for billions more in rental assistance, and a blanket nationwide moratorium on evictions to forestall a potential housing crisis during the pandemic.
Boulder Officials Told Campaigns They Had Until August to Qualify for the City Ballot. Now They Say the Deadline Was Actually in June.
The switch threatens an initiative to repeal Boulder's restrictions on unrelated people living together.
A Legal Challenge to New York's Latest Rent Control Laws
Government growth and abuses are not challenged nearly enough.
Is the COVID-19 Pandemic Self-Flattening, or Will It Grind Relentlessly on?
Stanford epidemiological model predicts self-flattening while MIT forecasts continued epidemic growth.
Trump's Bizarre Twitter Attack on Obama-Era Fair Housing Regs Reveals an Administration at War With Itself
The president's criticism of the 2015 AFFH rule is an implicit attack on his own housing reforms.
New York's Highest Court Upholds Taking of Private Property for Pipeline that Might Never Get Built
The 4-2 ruling is reminiscent of the federal Supreme Court's dubious decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which also upheld a condemnation for a project that turned out to be a dud.
Landlords Are Suing To Overturn State Eviction Moratoriums. State Legislators Want To Extend and Expand Them.
What started as a largely uncontroversial emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic has now become subject of intense legal and policy battles.
Israeli Supreme Court Strikes Down Law Authorizing Expropriation of Palestinian Private Property for Use by Israeli Settlers - and Cites my Work on Eminent Domain in the US in the Process
The decision distinguishes US Supreme Court cases allowing the government to transfer property from one private party to another for almost any "public purpose."
The Pandemic Is a Reminder That Many Regulations Are Both Costly and Unnecessary
It took a crisis for policymakers to see that hundreds of rules were not worth the burdens they imposed.
Make 'Temporary' Regulatory Relief Permanent After the Pandemic Passes
The health crisis revealed red tape that hobbles our lives even in good times.
Backyard Cottages Could Be the Most Feasible Type of Housing To Build During COVID-19. Some California Cities Are Still Blocking Them.
The California state legislature has done everything in its power to legalize accessory dwelling units. A new lawsuit probes whether it's done enough.
Pelosi's $3 Trillion Coronavirus Relief Bill Includes $175 Billion in Homeowner, Renter Assistance, and Blanket Ban on Evictions
Democrats' HEROES Act is mostly about messaging. And it sends all the wrong messages on housing.
Democrats Want To Give Renters $100 Billion To Cope With the Coronavirus
Giving renters direct assistance is a better idea than rent cancelation, but that's not saying much.
Who Should Pay the Rent During a Pandemic?
Rent strikes and calls for rent cancellation proliferate across the country.
America Wasn't Ready for Coronavirus
Early takeaways from the country's response to a pandemic
What It's Like To Be a Rational Optimist in a Pandemic
Matt Ridley on how the coronavirus caught him by surprise, the crucial role of dissent in politics, and the importance of innovation for survival
COVID-19 Could Force City Planners To Rethink Their Priorities
The coronavirus shutdown might alter buying patterns, as more people flee tightly packed cities for suburban, exurban, and rural areas.
Ilhan Omar's Bill Would Enable the Feds To Seize Landlords' Properties for Trying To Collect Rent During Coronavirus
The Minnesota congresswoman's proposal to cancel rents and mortgages during the coronavirus pandemic is both wildly impractical and constitutionally dubious.
Can't Afford Your Rent? Blame Herbert Hoover.
The feds pushed cities to implement zoning restrictions. High prices and social inequality were the inevitable results.
With 30 Percent of Tenants Unable To Pay Their Bills This Month Due to COVID-19, Many Want Rent Canceled
Alexandria, Virginia, is the latest city to entertain demands to cancel rent payments during the current pandemic.
Emergency COVID-19 Rules Effectively Give California's NIMBYs Unlimited Time To File Anti-Housing Environmental Lawsuits
And they are taking full advantage of the opportunity
Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley Will Do Everything Necessary To Combat Coronavirus (Unless It Involves Deregulation)
In two separate op-eds yesterday, the senators pitch central planning as the best response to the coronavirus pandemic.
California's Eviction Ban Will Worsen Current Economic Woes
Yes, tenants are losing their jobs because of the COVID-19 shutdown, but forcing businesses to provide services for free would have a ripple effect.
FDA Will Lift Restrictions on Face Mask Imports, Toppling Another Pointless Regulation
Health care workers will now be allowed to use the Chinese-certified KN95 masks, which are equivalent to the N95 masks that are in short supply.
FDA Will Finally Let Gays Donate Blood—If They Wait 3 Months After Having Sex
Before this, the wait period was a year.
Coronavirus: 10 Public Safety Regulations Set Aside in the Name of Public Safety
Restrictions on takeout cocktails, telemedicine, hand sanitizer, and plastic bags are among the rules being chucked aside in a crisis.
Coronavirus Puts Counterproductive Regulations Into Perspective
Many regulations serve little to no public purpose.
L.A. Bureaucrats Shut Down Restaurants for Selling Groceries Without a Permit
"You cannot just decide you want to sell groceries," said Barbara Ferrer, the director of L.A. County Public Health.
The Coronavirus Testing Debacle Stems From Decades of Bad FDA Policy
The agency's emphasis on caution over speed led to needless suffering and loss of life long before the COVID-19 pandemic.
New York Legislators Introduce Bill To Cancel Rent for 90 Days for Workers Affected By Coronavirus Closures
Sen. Mike Gianaris (D–Queens) argues eviction moratoriums don't go far enough to protect renters who've been put out of a job because of the virus.
Federal 'Fair Housing' Policy Set for a Major Overhaul
The new rule would ask localities receiving federal funding to report on their housing market outcomes and propose concrete steps for improving affordability.
Politicians Declare Eviction Moratoriums To Combat Coronavirus. Will They Give Up That Power After the Virus Fades?
Emergency measures can easily become routine policy.
Minnesota Is Latest State to Consider Ban on Single-Family Zoning
State legislators want to allow duplexes statewide and eliminate local governments' ability to impose aesthetic design requirements.
California Wants To Carve Out Religious Exemptions to Its Insane Housing Laws
State lawmakers want to override local zoning codes to let churches and other nonprofits build affordable housing on their own land.
Just How Good Is Trump's Economy, Anyway?
While the 2017 tax cuts didn't deliver the results promised by Trump and his magical-thinking supporters, the administration has delivered some economic expansion, some job creation, and some investment growth.
