As of January 1, 2024, California stores with more than five hundred employees will be required to have a “gender neutral” section for children’s toys. In essence, the law is declaring that California parents are stupid and don’t realize that boys can play with Barbie dolls and girls can play with GI Joe. According to…
In my book, The Affordable Housing Crisis: Causes and Cures, I examine how socialized roads have impacted the affordability of housing. A real-life example is currently taking place as the government attempts to expand Interstate 45 through downtown Houston. The project will result in the displacement of 1,079 homes, 2 schools, 5 churches, and 344…
During the fourth debate between candidates for the Republican nomination, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suggested student loans should be “backed by the universities because they need to have an incentive to produce gainful employment for people.” While DeSantis has a valid point, his solution doesn’t get to the heart of the matter regarding student loans….
Journalist Patrick Range McDonald provides an illuminating example of two common tactics used by Progressives Regressives. In an opinion piece at The Hill, he proclaims that rent control saves lives. His “proof”: “There is no legitimate evidence that rent control leads to a reduction in housing supply.” He goes on to state that studies in…
In a surprisingly objective article, Michael J. Petrilli examines the claim that school choice programs will kill government schools. Petrilli, who admits that he isn’t “crazy” about universal school choice programs, concludes that “we should root for the myth about the ‘death of public schools’ to die.” Petrilli cites two recent reviews of studies that…
The City Council of Knoxville, Tennessee is considering a property tax freeze for some apartment owners. Property owners who choose to participate in the program will be encouraged to keep rents affordable for low- and moderate-income households. Given that property taxes can be one of a landlord’s biggest expenses, this proposal could provide significant relief…
CNN laments that the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 has not increased since 2009. The article concludes by telling us that raising the minimum wage will increase employment, even though this claim defies a basic economic principle. Unlike politicians and CNN, employers understand that supply and demand applies to labor as much as any…
As energy expert Alex Epstein points out in Fossil Future, before we begin to analyze any idea or policy, we must first establish the proper standard of value. We must identify the goal or value that we seek, and then evaluate alternatives against this standard. Housing activists ignore this sage advice. Instead, they found their…
While city officials in Boston continue to push for rent control, the Boston Herald is calling for the city to treat landlords as allies for solving the city’s affordable housing crisis. Treating housing producers as allies means removing the restrictions and controls that stifle housing production. Fundamentally, the housing crisis is a supply shortage. There…
Politicians and housing activists often blame greedy corporate landlords as a primary cause of rising housing costs. They then demand more controls and restrictions, including rent control, on rental property owners. The politicians and activists conveniently ignore the fact that more than 40 percent of rental housing is owned by individual investors, so-called :mom and…
A growing movement is underway to impose a global minimum tax of 2 percent on the world’s 2,700 billionaires. This would raise an estimated $250 billion annually. One stated purpose of the movement is to “clampdown on tax evasion.” In truth, such a tax would be akin to eating the seed corn. To eat the…
Last November, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit refused to hear a takings case brought by a Texas farmer against the state. The court argued that “federal courts have no jurisdiction in takings cases against states.” In other words, the Constitution doesn’t apply to states. The case stems from the state’s…