Houston Oasis Talk
My talk to Houston Oasis on January 21 is available on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ByaynUEFCY I am introduced at 43:25
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An Unprincipled Approach to Housing Policy
Attorney and housing activist Randy Shaw provides an interesting example of an unprincipled approach to housing policy. In a piece titled “Upzoning and Rent Control: A Perfect Match,” Shaw proposes giving property owners a tad more freedom at the same time government is tying their hands. Upzoning is the process of modifying a city’s zoning…
Playing the Altruism Chip
Reliable Properties, the owner of a 24-unit apartment complex in Kansas City recently informed residents that their leases would not be renewed. The owner wants to renovate the units to take advantage of rising rents in the area. Many of the residents are elderly and have lived in the complex for years. They are obviously…
Free Market Solutions to the Housing Crisis: Clearing the Market
As rents soar in many parts of the country, government officials and housing advocates are increasingly looking to rent control—caps on what landlords may charge—to moderate prices. However, rent control ignores a basic principle of economics. One of the fundamental principles of economics is the law of supply and demand. This principle holds that if…
The Status Quo is not Working
In defending her rent control proposal, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said, “The status quo is not working.” She is correct. However, her solution to the problems caused by forcing individuals to act contrary to their own judgment is to force individuals to act contrary to their own judgment. Zoning laws serve as one example. In…
The Moral Case for Housing Producers
In 2011, I purchased a boarded up home in the Sunnyside community of Houston. This low-income neighborhood was filled with similar homes. Many of these homes were in disrepair and hadn’t seen a fresh coat of paint in decades. To call the area economically depressed would be an understatement. Yet, I took a risk and…
Coming to Your City: National Rent Control
In early January, fifty Democrat members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden. The letter urged him to “to pursue all possible strategies to end corporate price gouging in the real estate Sector….” The letter recommends seven actions Biden can take. Among the most significant is directing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish…