Howard Heosok, reasonJanuary 17, 2025.
extract:
America is facing a housing affordability crisis; Realtor.comIt highlights an often-missed factor: the millions of empty bedrooms. Census data shows that there are 31.8 million “excess” bedrooms in U.S. homes. This is down from only 4 million in 1970, but this is partly due to overregulation, especially in zoning and local occupancy laws.
and:
But even if homeowners want to use these “rooms,” they may be violating local laws. research According to a survey conducted by the American Enterprise Institute, 23 of the 30 largest U.S. cities have laws restricting residents who are considered “unrelated,” and “family” refers to members whose members are related, married, or related. Defined only as groups connected by adoption. In St. Louis, no more than three unrelated people can live together. In Sugar Land, Texas, the limit is four. Private homeowners associations can be much stricter. At Chase Oaks Homeowners Association in Plano, Texas, a “household” may consist of no more than two unrelated people, with exceptions for resident employees.
Johan Norberg, reasonFebruary 2025.
extract:
But with a newly emboldened Trump assembling a cabinet comprised of national security hawks and economic nationalists, we seem to be moving beyond that. Some of his choices for staff in his administration have agitated for decoupling the U.S. and Chinese economies and imposing harsh technology restrictions. And that doesn’t make people’s worries about China any better. It will make them much worse.
The first damage from the trade war is the economy. Many Americans believe that only China benefits from U.S.-China trade. However, a 1% increase in imports from China would reduce U.S. consumer prices by 1.9%, saving the average U.S. household about $1,500 per year. one quote It was co-authored by Professor Xavier Jaravel of the London School of Economics and Federal Reserve economist Erick Sager.
The effect was greatest in product lines that are popular among low-income consumers, such as clothing and home appliances. Trump, who won the election largely due to complaints about inflation, appears ready to start a second administration with tariffs that would raise consumer prices.
DRH Comment: I agree with the overall thrust of the article and that opening up to imports lowers prices, but I think the 1.9% drop is incorrect. There seem to be countless numbers. For example, this means that if Chinese imports increase by 2 percentage points, consumer prices can be reduced by 3.8%.
I’d like to explain my reasoning, but invite the reader to think about it.
Jack Nicastro, Reason, January 17, 2025.
extract:
Wildfires in Greater Los Angeles have killed at least 25 people and destroyed more than 12,000 structures. California Governor Gavin Newsom to help cities rebuild faster exemptionOnerous California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review and Coastal Code requirements for buildings damaged and destroyed by fire. Newsom also declared. emergency This triggered various provisions in California. How to prevent price gouging.
Suspending CEQA review and Coastal Act requirements would allow housing expansions by reducing construction time and costs. Prohibiting prices from rising in response to market forces will have the opposite effect.
Section B of the anti-price gouging law will take effect until January 2026 and prohibits sellers from increasing prices for food, emergency services and housing by more than 10% compared to pre-emergency prices. Section C, effective until January next year, applies the same restrictions to reconstruction services. Sections D, E, and F prohibit similar price increases on hotel and motel rates and rents and ban evictions until March 8.
Price controls cause shortages. This is the exact opposite of the revival policy.
For more information on the major recovery from a much more decimated economy, the recovery brought about by the end of price controls, see David R. Henderson, “German Economic Miracle,” in David R. Henderson, ed., The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics.
