1. Another empirical paper claiming that anti-density zoning increases racial segregation: Previous research on segregation stresses things like urban form and racial preferences as primary causes. The author finds that an institutional force is more important: local land regulation. Using two … [Read more...]
Has Wendell Cox ever heard of India’s license raj?
Wendell Cox, in his ongoing crusade to prove that everyone hates cities, writes about the suburbanization of Mumbai at New Geography. After reviewing all the statistics, he concludes: Mumbai: Penultimate Density, Yet Representative: The core urban area (area of continuous urban development) of … [Read more...]
Who believes that smart growth caused the recession?
So, I have a question. This might sound like I'm trying to be snarky, but I'm actually genuinely in search of an answer: Is there any economist out there other than Wendell Cox and Joel Kotkin who actually believes this? This all should give some pause to the relentless hoopla about the country’s … [Read more...]
Livechat invitation and more thinktank responses
As promised, I want to reprint the responses I got from Wendell Cox and Randal O'Toole, but first I wanted to invite everyone to a livechat that's being organized by Tim Lee. Tim used to write for Cato, but now he's pursuing a PhD at MIT and doing freelance writing on tech policy. He organizes … [Read more...]
The mirage of revealed preferences
I often hear from libertarian-inclined defenders of the suburban status quo that the fact that American is so overwhelmingly suburban is proof that it's what Americans want. Economists call this "revealed preference," but it could also be understood as voting with your feet and wallet. People have … [Read more...]
Another week, another consolation link list
Another week without posts (from me, at least), another giant consolation link list! I've got a lot of them piling up and probably won't be back to regular posting for a few more days, so I'll try to spread them out over a few posts. 1. Wendell Cox's Demographia came out with its 2010 … [Read more...]
My Article at FreePo on the Resurrection of Rent Control
The Orange County Register’s new site, Freedom Politics just posted an article I wrote for them on rent control. Here’s a snippet: In these days of economists constantly debating the right way to revive the economy, it seems like there is no way to find consensus among economists. … [Read more...]