Slow Boring

Share this post
The housing shortage and what to do about it
www.slowboring.com

The housing shortage and what to do about it

YIMBY — now more than ever

Matthew Yglesias
Mar 22, 2022
95
153
Share this post
The housing shortage and what to do about it
www.slowboring.com

Yesterday I argued that the Fed’s planned interest rate increases are too timid based on their own inflation projections. But Larry Summers is arguing that the Fed’s projections themselves are too optimistic and the inflation rate is likely to be higher than they say.

Housing costs are a key part of that argument.

I’ve been arguing for years that the United States has a serious supply-side problem related to land use and zoning regulations.

These days, though, the quantity of new houses being built is lagging behind the number of permits, largely because builders are having trouble getting sufficient labor and construction materials for acceptable costs. This is to say that on some level, the housing market is feeling the general squeeze as a ton of demand rushes through an economy that’s been hit by a couple of big supply-side shocks.

One interpretation of that supply crunch is that YIMBY/NIMBY issues are less relevant today because of all these non-permitting barriers to house-build…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to Slow Boring to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2023 Matthew Yglesias
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing