87. Mark Mollineaux - 2023 Annual Conference: Why is Housing so Unaffordable? Causes and Solutions

Today our discussion comes from our most recent annual conference: Why is Housing so Unaffordable? Causes and Solutions. For the next twelve weeks, our discussions will revolve around the topic of housing and house prices with three subtopics. The first will be root causes, followed by an evaluation of current policy responses, and finishes with alternatives to current policy and thinking around affordability. Nowadays housing issues are on everyone’s mind, from ownership to affordability. But because we’re so caught up in the stresses from facing the issues of real-world housing problems, we don’t understand how we got here, and why that matters for finding a solution. The 20th century saw a shift towards suburbanization: the movement from city living to the suburbs. As a result, city planning moved towards bolstering these areas at the expense of cities. This caused inequality to grow between homeowners and those who can’t afford the purchase of living, creating the unaffordability crisis we experience today. Mr. Mollineaux is a lifelong Georgist and hosts a popular podcast, Georgist Perspectives, on Stanford’s radio where he hosts discussions on Georgist perspectives. Our guest today helps us understand the historical trajectories urban planning has led us to and looks to offer redistributive solutions that benefit city dwellers and promote equity. To check out more of our content, including our research and policy tools, visit our website: https://www.hgsss.org/