For years, housing advocates have been clamoring for more affordable housing. After the Biden Administration announced a plan that would ostensibly increase the supply of affordable housing by eliminating single-family zoning, also known as exclusionary zoning, many advocates have denounced the plan. Exclusionary zoning isn’t the problem, they say. The problem is the gang that…
The pandemic has unleashed a torrent of out-of-context policies. The lock downs and the moratoriums on evictions are but two examples. Sadly, the victims of these policies have often embraced the underlying principles. A debate in Massachusetts illustrates this point. The Massachusetts state legislature is considering a bill that would strengthen the state’s eviction moratorium….
For years, housing advocates have argued that landlords who refuse to accept housing vouchers are engaging in a form of racism because the majority of voucher users are black. Since I am a landlord who refuses to accept vouchers, in the eyes of many, I am a racist. In my twelve years as a landlord,…
A new “pro-choice” movement is being promoted by Leftists. As is often the case, the stated goals of this movement are a masquerade. While the policies advocated by the movement are presented as promoting freedom of choice, those policies are an attack on that freedom. As one example, housing advocates and their political supporters are…
It is rare that a book can objectively present the facts and then draw all of the wrong conclusions. Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2017, is one such book. Author Matthew Desmond follows eight low-income families and their landlords during the 2007-2008 financial crisis. He chronicles…
Ayn Rand often pointed out that businessmen have long been blamed for the disasters caused by government intervention in the economy. If one considers an issue out of context, such blame might seem plausible. But if we examine the full context, we will see that government frequently incentivizes bad behavior. The collapse of the housing…
An inevitable result of government’s growing intervention in economic matters is a conflict between various policy goals. An example of these conflicting goals is the goal of preserving historic buildings and the goal of providing affordable housing. A common feature of preservation ordinances is that repairs to an existing building must use “in-kind” materials. For…
An opinion piece in The Dallas Morning News correctly notes that SB12, which would force social media platforms like Facebook to publish content the company finds objectionable. Can you imagine a law that forced someone who plants a yard sign supporting a Republican candidate to also place one for the Democratic opponent beside it? That’s…
For nearly a century, Americans have been told that we face an affordable housing crisis. Despite an endless number of government schemes purported to address the problem, it has only grown worse. Why? The simple answer is that supply has failed to keep pace with demand. But the simple answer doesn’t explain why developers and…
Housing advocates frequently claim that racism explains the large gap in home ownership between whites and non-whites. To overcome this racism, they call for government programs to help non-whites purchase homes. It is true that past racism did deter home ownership among non-whites, but that fact must be considered in the full context. The source…
Leftists have a tactic that is often effective in generating support for their policies. They tell a really sad story, sprinkle in some horrifying statistics, and then evade relevant facts. A story about the eviction crisis on The Appeal illustrates this tactic. The article begins with a story about Samantha, a mother who worries where…
Housing advocates are promoting two bills introduced in the Texas Legislature that would give tenants more choices and reduce choices for landlords. The bills would prohibit landlords from using source of income as a consideration when renting a property. The purpose of the bills is to force landlords to accept housing vouchers. Advocates defend the…