If you read elite commentary on the home-sharing industry (that is, Airbnb and its competitors), especially on the Left, you might think it is quite controversial. However, a recent Pew survey suggests otherwise.According to Pew, very few people know very much about home-sharing. Only 11 … [Read more...]
Are Billionaires To Blame?
One common argument I have read in various places is that the high rent of New York and other large cities is a result of globalization and inequality (English translation: rich foreigners). According to this theory, rich people have created a surge of demand so overwhelming that no amount of … [Read more...]
“Public Schools Only” Vouchers and Sprawl
About a month ago, I wrote about the pros and cons of school vouchers as a solution for "school-based sprawl" (that is, parents moving to suburbs to avoid urban public schools). I noted that a voucher program that included private schools might be expensive, since some private schools are quite … [Read more...]
Supply-And-Demand Denial And Climate Change Denial
I have criticized the idea that the law of supply and demand no longer applies to big-city housing (or, as I call it, supply-and-demand denialism, or "SDD" for short). It just occurred to me that there are a few similarities between supply-and-demand denialists and those who deny climate change. To … [Read more...]
So Much For The Foreign Oligarchs
One common argument against new housing in high-cost cities is that the rise of global capitalism makes demand for urban housing essentially unlimited: if new apartments in Manhattan or San Francisco are built, they will be taken over by foreign billionaires in quest of American real estate, who … [Read more...]
Vouchers, Sprawl and Trade-Offs
Currently, the American public school system is a sprawl-generating machine: urban public schools are less appealing to middle-class parents than suburban public schools, causing parents to move to suburbia.This result arises from school assignment laws: because students must attend school in … [Read more...]
Rent Control: A No-Win
In an otherwise excellent article on NIMBYism and luxury housing, affordable housing consultant Rick Jacobus writes: “economist Anthony Downs reviewed the published studies and found that while 'stringent' rent control imposed over a very long time had reduced private apartment construction in the … [Read more...]