The topic of the book, how local government regulation stifles the construction of new homes in opportunity-rich cities across the United States, is vital and pressing, unfortunately something that has been ignored by most politicians. The rent is too high because supply has not coped up with demand. And the supply has been low is not because we don’t have the ability to meet the demand, but because there is no free market in home construction as a huge web of regulations have thwarted builders.

The topic of the book, how local government regulation stifles the construction of new homes in opportunity-rich cities across the United States, is vital and pressing, unfortunately something that has been ignored by most politicians. The rent is too high because supply has not coped up with demand. And the supply has been low is not because we don’t have the ability to meet the demand, but because there is no free market in home construction as a huge web of regulations have thwarted builders. It may be surprising for some to learn that in many places, making tall buildings is outright illegal and in others, foolish rules mandating free parking makes them prohibitively expensive to construct.



Yglesias touches upon several important topics. One is the confusion among many people about housing prices. House owners feel happy when prices go up and generally, housing is looked upon as an investment. But in reality, this is a mirage as the profits made from a house sale will necessarily have to be used in purchasing another home to live in and so it is a wash. The increasing costs of housing takes a huge chunk of the monthly paycheck of the average American, reducing their quality of life. I would add that house prices should be treated as “inflation” as opposed to treating it as it is the same as a stock price increase so that people get the picture.



The author explains the paradox where the cities where the highest incomes can be obtained are the ones that are not growing the fastest, because housing is only available at prohibitive prices, or simply not available. Also, despite improvements in construction technology, we are not utilizing them much such as in making tall buildings because of regulations.



In the book, Yglesias also shows how both sides of the political divide have aligned themselves on the wrong side of the debate. The Left has a natural affinity for regulations, aesthetics, and preservation, combined with an instinct against rich developers and fails to see how this is affecting the pockets of middle-class and poor Americans. The Right should be a natural constituency to repeal some of these regulations, unfortunately identity politics has made them align against urbanism and adapt ironically apocalyptic rhetoric against Big Government supposedly forcing rural dwellers to move to the city.

