tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post7383464728835408080..comments2024-03-28T11:48:09.419-07:00Comments on Idiosyncratic Whisk: Housing: Part 187 - The solution to our problems is urbanKevin Erdmannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-42761790393570152512016-11-17T06:38:44.383-07:002016-11-17T06:38:44.383-07:00Kevin: I think your book will be one of the most i...Kevin: I think your book will be one of the most important of the era. How to tell the story? Sheesh even macroeconomists are not on board. I don't know.Benjamin Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001038338873263877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-31435155520316361862016-11-16T23:38:45.214-07:002016-11-16T23:38:45.214-07:00You know, Ben. A version of your point number 6 r...You know, Ben. A version of your point number 6 really is at the core of this issue, and is something that I hope can be conveyed in a way that can be widely appreciated. In a way, the trade deficit is related to employment stagnation in the rust belt. And, you have it right. It is because capital flows here, ends up in the pocket of a Closed Access real estate owner, and then either gets spent on consumption by those lucky owners or gets reinvested into foreign operations of US firms.<br />People tend to see this simply as a product of "jobs moving overseas", because you can sort of see that happen when a factory closes down. But, of course that is deceiving. In many places and times, dislocations happen without leaving behind stagnation. The reason it happens now is that the way to access income in our current regime is to buy a ticket to Closed Access. They think that corporations pocket the profits by moving production to lower wage economies, leaving the former workers with none. But, it's actually Closed Access real estate owners, firms, and high income workers who are pocketing those profits. The data is overwhelming on this matter. The trick is telling the story in a way that can be understood.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-32130509468483094612016-11-16T21:40:31.475-07:002016-11-16T21:40:31.475-07:00Ed Swierk:
I am even deeper into crank-land, when...Ed Swierk:<br /><br />I am even deeper into crank-land, when I espouse the decriminalization of push-cart and truck-vending. I might as well wear a "Lu-lu" tee-shirt. You are welcome to join me, btw. <br /><br />Here is another one: <br /><br />1. Okay, free trade is great. <br />2. The US runs huge trade deficits. <br />3. Offshore money acquires U.S. assets, notably housing, as capital flow balance trade deficits.<br />4. But housing supply is artificially constricted. <br />5. Housing prices rise out of sight (this actually is happening in Australian and Canada) <br />6. So, to facilitate global free trade, all property zoning must be eliminated, so the supply of housing can answer foreign demand. <br /><br />Yes, no local zoning due to globalist imperatives! That's another attack ad that writes itself. <br /><br />It was only in 1926 that the Supreme Court upheld property zoning, and then by a split vote. Maybe it can change. I doubt it too. <br /><br />Here is another one: We are against rent controls, but for property zoning. <br />Benjamin Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001038338873263877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-35629765978816643362016-11-16T12:16:26.702-07:002016-11-16T12:16:26.702-07:00Great comments, Ed.
You would think that there wo...Great comments, Ed.<br /><br />You would think that there would be a natural populist position against the suburban zoning issues, which tend to have a class component. Part of the problem is that the populist voices seem content to obstruct the core city projects with "luxury" units and there isn't a natural local constituency to counter that obstruction with an argument for more building. Even the developers aren't a constituency because they are loaded with fees, taxes, and costs, so that the value of their properties is dependent on perpetual dysfunction.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-83630505409991349912016-11-16T11:50:48.181-07:002016-11-16T11:50:48.181-07:00An absolutist position on zoning is a political no...An absolutist position on zoning is a political non-starter. Two minutes into the debate, someone will bring up the proverbial hog-rendering plant in the residential neighborhood. Now you're either debating the difference between good and bad zoning, or are dismissed as a crank. Either way it's no shortcut past messy politics.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15799820560492366145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-80504606418916152102016-11-16T11:26:32.397-07:002016-11-16T11:26:32.397-07:00In California there have been some recent signs of...In California there have been some recent signs of progress at the state level, however tentative. http://www.realclearmarkets.com/articles/2016/06/16/housing_reform_is_californias_most_pressing_challenge_102226.html<br /><br />I think there's a long road ahead to convince people that state action is going to help, though. Even those personally affected by high housing prices (like a commenter in the above article) bristle at the idea of weakening local control: if you're unwilling to pay the price of admission or don't like your city's zoning laws, "vote with your feet" and move elsewhere.<br /><br />What's strange is hearing things like that from people who claim to lean libertarian. Perhaps it's a knee-jerk distrust of centralizing political power--understandable when the issue is framed as moving decision making to a higher level, vs. loosening locally-imposed restrictions on individual rights. (The attack ad about Sacramento politicians green-lighting a high-rise in your neighborhood practically writes itself.) Or perhaps it's a failure to recognize that only a privileged segment of the population with a long resume and a nest egg can realistically vote with their feet--it's like telling everyone else they're free to go jump in a lake.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15799820560492366145noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-61226408916695960102016-11-15T20:24:30.655-07:002016-11-15T20:24:30.655-07:00I think one of the successes attributed to Japan r...I think one of the successes attributed to Japan regarding housing is that they moved decision making for zoning up to a higher level, at the regional level instead of the local level, which seems to have helped.Kevin Erdmannhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07431566729667544886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-81626637495593614822016-11-15T20:07:31.530-07:002016-11-15T20:07:31.530-07:00Great post.
I would like the Supreme Court to rul...Great post.<br /><br />I would like the Supreme Court to rule that property zoning is unconstitutional.<br /><br />In any event, I think to be effective a ban on property zoning must be universal.<br /><br />Otherwise we get what we have now - - - each group pointing fingers at others and blaming them for housing shortages.<br /><br /><br /><br />Benjamin Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001038338873263877noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1110014885778996459.post-67626353780202174992016-11-15T19:58:38.448-07:002016-11-15T19:58:38.448-07:00Great post.
I would like the Supreme Court to rul...Great post.<br /><br />I would like the Supreme Court to rule that property zoning is unconstitutional.<br /><br />In any event, I think to be effective a ban on property zoning must be universal.<br /><br />Otherwise we get what we have now - - - each group pointing fingers at others and blaming them for housing shortages.<br /><br /><br /><br />Benjamin Colehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14001038338873263877noreply@blogger.com