Fix Housing Supply, Save the City: Is it Really That Easy?

"In response, some folks have accepted the call, including those who focus mostly on macroeconomic gardening without messing around much in the weeds. Paul Krugman in the New York Times, for instance. Krugman and the others got their inspiration from a speech by Jason Furman, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors, before the Urban Institute last month. Here’s a taste of Furman’s argument:

"The artificial upward pressure that zoning places on house prices — primarily by functioning as a supply constraint — also may undermine the market forces that would otherwise determine how much housing to build, where to build, and what type to build, leading to a mismatch between the types of housing that households want, what they can afford, and what is available to buy or rent."

Ben Brown goes on to talk about the messiness of public policy-making.