And at what margin? A new ideological struggle is brewing, yet we have not yet recognized it as such. The question is to what extent cities are for tourists, or for their current residents. Here is a report from Vermont: A Vermont town known for its autumn foliage has closed its roads to the public […]
Are cities for tourists or residents?
Are cities for tourists or residents?
03 Jan 2024 1 Comment
in economics of regulation, industrial organisation, transport economics, urban economics
Predictably, the Rush to Electric Cars Is Imploding
22 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics, urban economics
Anyone who tells you these power grabs aren’t coming is telling you not to believe your own eyes.
Predictably, the Rush to Electric Cars Is Imploding
European Passenger Train Travel Declining
13 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in transport economics, urban economics
The media treat Americans to a constant drumbeat of how much better European passenger trains are and why we need to spend hundreds of billions or trillions improving our train system. The latest is a report that overnight trains are proving they can replace air travel by “play[ing] an important … Continue reading →
European Passenger Train Travel Declining
Wellington
11 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in politics - New Zealand, urban economics
Yesterday’s Sunday Star-Times had an article built around some comments from me and from Infometrics economist Brad Olsen on the economic prospects of Wellington. The headline captured the gist of my contribution, “Sorry, Wellington, things could get worse and they probably will”. The question the journalist, Kevin Norquay, had posed to me a week ago […]
Wellington
How to Kill a Country
04 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, growth miracles, labour economics, public economics, urban economics Tags: ageing society, economics of fertility, population bomb, South Korea
Much of Seoul is a sea of high-rises. And not just Seoul: Busan and other cities in South Korea have lots of high rises. More than half of all South Korean households live in high rises, and well over 60 percent live in some kind of multifamily housing. Seoul: High … Continue reading →
How to Kill a Country
#endoil??!
27 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics, urban economics
Is Tokyo really a YIMBY success story?
23 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of regulation, urban economics Tags: Japan
It is common lore in YIMBY circles that Tokyo is such an inexpensive city because Tokyo/Japan has allowed so much freedom to build. Sometimes it is mentioned that Japanese building and regulatory decisions are made at higher levels than the strictly local, which lowers the power of the NIMBYs to restrict building. I don’t doubt […]
Is Tokyo really a YIMBY success story?
Remote Working Increases Productivity
22 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in transport economics, urban economics Tags: economics of pandemics
Last July, I noted that studies that claim that telecommuters are less productive than those in fixed workplaces were unpersuasive because they “mostly dealt with low-skilled jobs such as call centers and data entry.” I’m not the only one who thinks so. Writing in Business Insider, Ed Zitron noted last … Continue reading →
Remote Working Increases Productivity
And you can get on your bike with this green claptrap
13 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics, urban economics Tags: climate activists
More Questions about Electric Vehicles
11 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in energy economics, environmental economics, global warming, transport economics, urban economics
Four months ago, the Antiplanner observed that the market for electric cars was supposedly booming. Yet I was skeptical. Ford, Toyota, and other mainstream manufacturers were making very limited runs of electric vehicles, making it hard to get one. Others, such as Fiat-Chrysler, weren’t making any at all. Other than … Continue reading →
More Questions about Electric Vehicles
The Case Against Affordable Housing
06 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, econometerics, economic history, urban economics Tags: affordable housing
Affordable housing projects aren’t making housing more affordable. In fact, says a new study by an MIT economist, construction of new subsidized housing displaces new unsubsidized housing for little net gain in the housing supply. Specifically, the study found, ten new subsidized housing units resulted in eight fewer unsubsidized units. … Continue reading →
The Case Against Affordable Housing
Liberal Hypocrisy is Fueling American Inequality. Here’s How. | NYT Opinion well worth watching
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, economics of bureaucracy, economics of education, economics of regulation, income redistribution, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, property rights, Public Choice, public economics, rentseeking, urban economics Tags: housing affordability, top 1%, zoning
South Africa’s Slow, Inevitable March Towards Collapse
04 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, economics of crime, energy economics, entrepreneurship, growth disasters, growth miracles, human capital, income redistribution, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, poverty and inequality, Public Choice, public economics, urban economics Tags: South Africa
Just make it easy to delist buildings
31 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in economics of bureaucracy, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, urban economics
My column in the weekend papers:There is one other alternative. It is an alternative Wellington officials downplayed. But it is one that the council should take or that central government could progress instead.Why not make it easy to remove buildings from the district plan?A council needing legislation to address a local issue can propose a…
Just make it easy to delist buildings
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley Book Review
30 Oct 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, Marxist economics, politics - USA, poverty and inequality, property rights, Thomas Sowell, urban economics
I was skeptical of learning about Sowell because he leans conservative, and I was curious to learn about Sowell because he leans conservative. The last few years I’ve grown sympathetic to the political left because I got tired of conservatives seeming hatred for all things “left.” After reading this book I think a lot of […]
Maverick: A Biography of Thomas Sowell by Jason Riley Book Review
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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