Housing

One of the chief weapons used by the advocates of altruism is guilt.

The political, economic, and moral case for a free market in housing.

Modern-day Luddites oppose a different type of progress—gentrification.

Historic preservation is a pretense for dictating how others may or may not use their property.

To this day, private companies are castigated for “predatory lending.” Yet, it was government policy that incentivized loans to those who couldn’t afford to repay them.

Widespread racism can only occur when government mandates it.

Government officials love to loudly proclaim the great benefits that tenants will enjoy by restricting and controlling landlords. The folly of their schemes will become clear when they discover that the landlord shrugged.

Like all forms of subsidies, the “right to return” takes from some—taxpayers—to provide benefits to others—low-income households.

The report on eviction filings looks at groups, not individuals. Consequently, it fails to identify the context for the individuals who were evicted.

If we unleash the swarm, if we restore freedom to property owners, we will see an immense increase in housing production. Property owners could convert single-family homes into duplexes, build a cottage or “granny flat” in the back yard, or do any number of other things to increase the supply of housing.

Housing activists think that the solution to the housing shortage is to shackle housing producers.

End the “Lottery Life” in housing and watch market entrepreneurs do the rest.

Nuisance is highly contextual. An action that constitutes a nuisance in one context may not be a nuisance in another context.

Economic power is founded on voluntary trade. Political power is founded on physical force.

We may not always like the alternatives that we face, but choosing between unattractive alternatives isn’t force.

On the one hand, housing advocates and public officials decry the state’s housing shortage. On the other hand, they continue to advocate for more controls and restrictions to be piled onto the shoulders of housing producers.

The Progressive framework relegates the individual to second-class status. The collective reigns supreme.

“In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.”

For a 1,000 square foot apartment—smaller than many cities allow without expensive variance permit processes—a developer would need to charge at least $2,750 per month just to break even.

Land prices skyrocket when the supply of land is artificially and drastically reduced, which means that housing prices become astronomical.