In this episode, U.S.-based economist Bryan Caplan discusses a wide range of housing issues, touching on everything from regulations to the benefits of cities to why housing is so expensive.
He joins host Jesse Fragale to discuss the science and ethics of housing regulation, the limitations of developers, and actions that can improve housing affordability. Caplan focuses on the U.S. market, but much of the conversation is relevant to global housing conditions, including Canada.
Caplan is an American economist and author. He is a professor of economics at George Mason University, a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a former contributor to the Freakonomics blog and EconLog.
Chapters:
- 0:00 Introduction;
- 1:14 The science and ethics of housing regulation;
- 3:37 Why housing?
- 4:42 Why does Canada have a housing shortage?
- 6:38 Cities are good;
- 13:14 Why is housing so expensive?
- 18:50 Affordability;
- 24:35 Neighbourhood defenders;
- 30:09 Connection between developers and government;
- 33:49 Who is doing it right?
- 36:38 Cheap land houses;
- 38:30 Rent control;
- 40:00 Housing regulations; and
- 44:03 What is seen and what is not seen.
