Tag: housing policy
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California fire insurance refusals are economic redlining
When insurers withdraw from California fire zones en masse, the effect mirrors historical redlining — collapsing property values and exposure for whole communities.
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Rent control works
The textbook case against rent control is built on assumptions that don’t survive contact with actual housing markets. The evidence is more interesting than economists admit.
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HOAs are a form of private government nobody voted for
Homeowners associations exercise governmental powers without governmental accountability. The legal framework was set up to favor developers, not residents.
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Mortgage forbearance during COVID created a generation of zombie homeowners
COVID forbearance kept millions in their homes, but it also produced a class of borrowers who owe more than they can realistically repay. Here’s the fallout.
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Rent control fails
Rent control polls well and feels fair, but decades of data show it shrinks supply and hurts the renters it’s meant to help. The evidence is hard to ignore.
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The American dream of homeownership was always a marketing campaign
The idea that owning a home defines middle-class success was deliberately constructed by lenders, builders, and government policy. The history matters.
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Institutional landlords aren’t the problem people think they are
Wall Street rental owners make easy villains, but the data shows housing affordability is mostly about supply, zoning, and small landlords.
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Prop 13 is the worst housing policy in America
Prop 13 froze California property taxes in 1978 and quietly reshaped the state. Decades later, it’s a major reason housing costs and inequality keep getting worse.