Roger Valdez thinks, writes, works on housing, and advocates for progressive supply side solutions to inflation. He is Director of the Center for Housing Economics. Valdez has been a housing developer, staff for state and local elected officials, a research associate at a sustainability think tank, managed political campaigns, and implemented population-based health programs at public health departments. Follow Valdez for posts on promising housing solutions, criticism of those that aren’t, and continuing versions of the refrain, “To lower high housing prices, we need more housing.”
Affordability Mandates Make Housing Price Problems Worse
Mandates by local governments to include units with lower rents in apartment projects don’t create more affordability for people that need housing.
New York Mayor’s Race Highlights The Persistence Of Rent Control
Mandates that cap prices do nothing to create new supply, and, in reality, disincentivizes new production. This makes rent inflation worse.
Regulatory Issues For AI Are The Same Ones For Housing
The SHAPED series will be another important analysis of similar ways government can make a problem worse by trying to solve it.
Seattle’s Non-Profit Housing Sector In Trouble
The basic rules of economics don’t stop at the Seattle City Limits. Fewer rules mean more, lower-cost, market-rate housing for working households.
YIMBY Legislation Makes Headlines But Does It Make More Housing?
The media and progressives are enamored with the idea that YIMBY legislation does something when often it doesn't do much.