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What the Federal Government Can do to Alleviate the Housing Crisis

6 0
04.09.2024

Housing Policy

Ilya Somin | 9.4.2024 10:15 AM

Many parts of the United States are suffering from severe housing shortages. The main culprits are exclusionary zoning restrictions and other regulations imposed by state and local government. But the federal government could potentially help break down these barriers. So far, unfortunately, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have mostly offered terrible policies that are more likely to make things worse than better. In a recent New York Times article (non-paywalled version here), Harvard economist Edward Glaeser—one the world's leading expert on the economics of housing and urban development—offers a proposal for how the feds can do better:

Our next president could do much to unwind America's housing shortage, which has its roots in regulations enacted by innumerable municipalities. But "not in my backyard" towns won't start building out of the goodness of their hearts. To unleash enough new building to bring affordability, we need to dust off our history books and remember how this country raised the legal alcohol drinking age. The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 demanded states raise the minimum age to buy or publicly possess alcohol to 21 — or face a reduction in federal highway funds. The threat of losing such funds is a big stick….

As many observers have already realized, residents have made it particularly difficult to build in the most productive parts of America, such as Silicon Valley, which means that America's G.D.P. is much lower than it would be if people could move to where the jobs pay the most. Areas with the most upward mobility limit building the most, which makes America more permanently unequal….

The rules that limit building are hyperlocal,........

© Reason.com


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