Georgists assert that a Land Value Tax (LVT) ensures land is always put to its most efficient use. They claim that increased carrying costs deter speculation. And if valuable land is never held out of use, society is better off. I think the story about incentives is correct. But I question … [Read more...]
New York State’s Property Tax Cap
One reason for California’s high housing costs might be Proposition 13. This law, passed by referendum in the 1970s, may discourage housing production in two significant ways. First, under Proposition 13, all housing- even vacant land- is taxed at its original purchase price rather than its … [Read more...]
Why Money for Schools Means No Permits For Housing
Housing has a lot going against it in the California. But amidst all the legal, political, and regulatory roadblocks, there’s one law that sneaks by largely unnoticed: Prop 98. Prop 98 guarantees a minimum level of state spending on education each year. Sacramento pools most city, county, and … [Read more...]
Premium link list
Recently I've been delaying posting a few things because I wanted to wait till I had more time to cover them, but I'm realizing that I'll probably have new things to write about on the 15th (which is when regular posting will hopefully resume), so have at it – your first ever premium link … [Read more...]
Mortgage-interest tax deduction cuts on the table
Urbanism doesn't get a lot of breaking news (that is, unless Eric Fidler's prediction pans out), but this might be an exception: the WSJ is reporting that Obama's (bipartisan?) deficit commission is considering cutting the mortgage-interest tax deduction. The reports are all very speculative, but … [Read more...]
Matt Yglesias attacks parking maximums, outs himself as a market urbanist
Matt Yglesias has been on a roll lately with the urbanism posts, all of which have a heavy "market urbanist" slant, but it's this post about parking reform in/around Boston (riffing off of this Boston Globe article) that seals the deal for me: Regulators pushing developers to build less parking … [Read more...]
Boudreaux: Roads Don’t Need New Taxes
Don Boudreaux to the Washington Times: LETTER TO EDITOR: Roads don't need new taxes Thursday, July 24, 2008 Upset that Virginians' taxes were not recently raised to construct more roads, State Delegate Brian J. Moran, Alexandria and Fairfax Democrat, declares that "Government has an … [Read more...]
Rent Control Part 4: Conclusion and Solutions
Welcome to the final post in the series discussing the consequences of rent control. Thank you to the subscribers who have patiently awaited each new post. I hope everyone found it enlightening. If you haven't read the entire series, you can catch up with these links: Rent Control Part One: … [Read more...]