Policy
Argentina's Congress Passes Some of Milei's Deregulation Reforms. Will the Senate Support Them?
With only a minority of support in Congress, the president had to make concessions to secure the passage of his sweeping reform bill.
Rent Control Remains the Wrong Solution to Housing Woes
Restricting the price of housing kills incentives to supply places to live.
How Immigration Restrictions Reduce Housing Construction and Exacerbate Shortages
A new study shows deportation of undocumented migrants reduces housing construction by diminishing the supply of workers needed to do it.
How California's Ban on Diesel Locomotives Could Have Major National Repercussions
No technology exists today to enable railroads to comply with the state's diktat, which villainizes a mode of transportation that is actually quite energy efficient.
Illinois Won't Let Him Do His Job Filing Paperwork—Unless He Gets a Private Detective License
David Knott helps clients retrieve unclaimed property from the government. The state has made it considerably harder for him to do that.
Ohio Pastor Criminally Charged for Letting People Sleep In Church. Again.
Plus: California's landmark law ending single-family-only zoning is struck down, Austin, Texas, moves forward with minimum lot size reform, and the pro-natalist case for pedestrian infrastructure.
Don't Fall For RFK Jr.'s Home Loan Scheme
Kennedy’s plan for government-backed mortgage bonds will do to housing what federal student loans have done to college tuition.
Colorado Bans HOAs From Banning Home Businesses
Homeowners associations are the most, and the least, libertarian form of governance.
Costly Complexity
The needless complexity of affordable housing programs are hurting people they're supposed to help.
Combat Homelessness by Ending Exclusionary Zoning
The Eighth Amendment provides little, if any, protection for the homeless. But courts can help them by striking down exclusionary zoning, which is the major cause of housing shortages that lead to homelessness.
California Is Trying To Drive Landlords Out of Business
Which is bad news for anyone hoping to rent a place to live.
Upcoming Event on "Solving the Nation's Housing Shortage" [update]
Economist Bryan Caplan, former National Association of Home Builders Director Jerry Howard, and I will speak at event sponsored by the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University.
Study Finds Occupational Licensing Laws Depress Wages in Other Industries
A Cato Institute policy brief found that while licensed occupations see a nice bump in pay, licensing requirements lower wages for other similar occupations.
The Supreme Court Rules Impact Fees Can Violate Your Property Rights Too
Plus: Zoning reform in Minnesota stalls, a New York housing "deal" does little for housing supply, and Colorado ends occupancy limits.
Social Media Platforms Have Property Rights Too
The push to regulate social media content infringes on rights guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.
Say No to This: America's Fiscal Norms Are in Decline
Despite their informal nature, those norms have historically constrained U.S. fiscal policy. But they're eroding.
A New York Housing Grand Bargain?
Plus: Problems for Saudi Arabia's The Line, Hawaii considers a short-term rental crackdown, and when affordable housing mandates get you less affordable housing.
Mississippi Tethers Real Estate Agents to Outdated Rule
As remote work becomes the new normal, Mississippi's insistence on an archaic 50-mile radius for real estate supervision faces scrutiny.
New NBER Study Finds Covid Eviction Moratoria Increased Racial Discrimination
Moratoria caused landlords to be less willing to rent to black tenants.
Chicago Mayor's Solution to Homelessness Fails to Convince Voters
Instead of a hefty real estate tax hike, voters want more logical, long-term solutions to a genuine crisis.
The Catholic Case Against NIMBYism
Urban policy analyst Addison Del Mastro advances it in the Catholic journal America.
As America Becomes More Secular, American Religion Will Need To Become More Urban
It's in cities that greater absolute numbers of religious people can compensate for declining per capita rates of religious observance.
New Zealand's YIMBY Success - And How We Can Learn From it
New Zealand alleviated a severe housing shortage by liberalizing regulations that had previously blocked most new construction.
New York's Pot Legalization 'Disaster' Was Entirely Predictable
The state’s policies and practices seemed designed to strangle the legal cannabis supply.
Pioneer Institute Hubwonk Podcast on Exclusionary Zoning and the Takings Clause
In interview with Joe Selvaggi of the Pioneer Institute, I explain the harm caused by exclusionary zoning, and why it violates the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.
Birth of a YIMBY Folk Hero
Plus: The White House's rent controls, San Francisco's bad-to-worse turn on housing, and the latest unintended consequence of eviction moratoriums
Trump's and Biden's Terrible Tariffs
Plus: A listener asks if Trump or Biden have done anything to secure the blessings of liberty.
Don't Blame Decriminalization for Oregon Drug Deaths
Oregon lawmakers recently voted to recriminalize drugs after voters approved landmark reforms in 2020.
Are 'Squatters' Rights' Out of Control?
Too many property owners are having trouble asserting their rights, but not everything is "squatter's rights."
California Won't Let Homeowners Insurance Companies Raise Rates, so They're Leaving the State Instead
Giving the state control over insurance rates turned pricing into a Byzantine regulatory process.
The Best of Reason: Don't Let E.U. Bureaucrats Design Americans' Tech
Some Democrats want to mimic Europe's policies on phone chargers and more.
Squatters' Rights Laws Violate the Takings Clause
Where these laws allow squatters to occupy houses without the owner's consent, they qualify as takings of private property that require payment of compensation under the Fifth Amendment.
Zoning Versus the Good Samaritan. Again.
Plus: New York refreshes rent control, AOC and Bernie Sanders call for more, greener public housing, and California's "builder's remedy" wins big in court.
Biden's Antitrust Case Against Apple Is Truly Stupid
Plus: A listener asks about the absurdity of Social Security entitlements.
The Absurd Apple Antitrust Lawsuit
If you fail to see a problem with Apple's actions, you may not be an overzealous government lawyer.
Central Planners Can't Fix Iraq—or Detroit
In Fragile Neighborhoods, author Seth Kaplan applies his Fixing Fragile States observations domestically.
Public Schools Charge Tuition, Just Like Private Schools
All too often, admission is only open to students whose families can afford a home inside the districts’ boundaries or pay transfer student tuition.
After Nearly 20 Years, They Finally Freed the Frozen Cherry Pie
The market offers many alternatives to bad desserts. We don’t need the FDA to step in.
American Nightmare
Plus: Squatters, Julian Assange, teen babysitters, Hong Kong migration, and more...
Opposition to U.S. Steel Sale Shows How Similar Biden and Trump Are on Trade
Economic nationalists are claiming the deal endangers "national security" to convince Americans that a good deal for investors, employees, and the U.S. economy will somehow make America less secure. That's nonsense.
The Dark Side of Housing Bipartisanship
Plus: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is fooled by TikTok housing falsehoods, Austin building boom cuts prices, and Sacramento does the socialist version of "homeless homesteading."
Cross-Ideological YIMBY Coalition Defies Increasing Polarization - So Far
The New York Times and the Atlantic report on how the movement to curb exclusionary zoning and build more housing has managed to cut across ideological lines.
Don't Let E.U. Bureaucrats Design Americans' Tech
Some Democrats want to mimic Europe's policies on phone chargers and more.
Canadian Indigenous Nations Use Exemptions From Zoning Rules to Build Affordable High-Rise Housing
They are to be commended. But other property owners should also be freed of exclusionary zoning.
Milei Gave Himself a Huge Pay Raise, Then Took It Back
The president who vowed to cut government spending rescinds the 48 percent pay raise he gave himself.
Rent Free Q&A: Jared Polis
The Colorado governor talks about live housing reforms in the state legislature, the federal role in housing policy, and whether we should abolish zoning completely.
Biden's Proposed Corporate Tax Hike Will Punish the Average American
The president wants to raise the rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, despite it being well-established that this is the most economically-destructive method to raise government funds.
