Mayors rehash false explanations for expensive housing
In March, I had an op-ed in the Star Tribune about the shortage of ‘affordable housing’ in the Twin Cities, in which I argued that: A price is not a…
In March, I had an op-ed in the Star Tribune about the shortage of ‘affordable housing’ in the Twin Cities, in which I argued that: A price is not a…
Are people greedier here? Recently, I had an op-ed in the Star Tribune arguing that the high housing costs we face in Minnesota are not a problem, but rather a…
Census Bureau data show that, in 2021, Minnesota lost 13,453 residents to other states, its biggest net loss of domestic migrants to other states in at least 30 years. Data…
Broad agreement exists that we suffer an affordable housing crisis in Minnesota — especially in the Twin Cities. The cause is no mystery. Affordable housing is scarce here because state…
Last week, I testified in front of the Senate Committee on Housing Finance and Policy in support of SF 3259. This bill would give cities the ability to impose both…
The rent control ordinance passed in St. Paul last November is having exactly the consequences that were predicted before it was passed. If you set a price below a market…
High prices are not problems in themselves; rather, they are symptoms of underlying problems which lead demand to outstrip supply. Digging into these underlying problems and their causes requires some…
Back in July, I had a column in the Duluth News Tribune about how federal government tariffs on Canadian lumber would serve to make housing less affordable. I noted that…
One of the most important things to remember in economics is that prices aren’t problems; they are signals, telling you what is going on with the demand and supply of…
Even though both theory and evidence show that rent control is bad public policy, Minneapolis’ city council continues to pursue it as a solution to the city’s shortage of affordable…
In my Star Tribune op-ed ‘Minnesota, we have a problem‘ last month, I mentioned our state’s racial disparities. Among others, I mentioned the disparity in homeownership rates specifically. In June,…
On August 20, Minnpost reported, The Minneapolis Planning Commission this week supported a proposed ordinance that would further regulate the types of materials developers of residential and commercial buildings put…
I’ve written before about how affordable housing in the Twin Cities is rare because it’s illegal to build: After all, high prices are simply a signal that demand, in this…
Lack of access to affordable housing is a big issue in Minnesota, especially the Twin Cities. While most of the effort geared towards alleviating this issue has centered around increasing…
I wasn’t a fan of President Trump’s trade policy. In April 2018, I wrote: ‘Trump’s tariffs could spark trade war that will cost many Americans‘; in May 2019, I wrote:…
Recently I wrote about the Panelház of Budapest, dwellings which were mass produced in parts by the communist government of Hungary and assembled onsite. I didn’t write about these grim…