Is the Ivory Tower a non-conforming use?

I'm usually skeptical of the popular conception of academia as an "ivory tower," whose denizens occupy a completely insular universe that cuts them off from the cares, concerns, and causes of the common man. I've known many academics in my life and while, sure, there are a few flakey professors out there (hell, I've got some in my own family) I find most are not nearly so different from the hoi polloi as the popular stereotypes would suggest.

But then, every once in a while, you'll find an academic trying to do his impression of a populist, and in the process, making it that much harder for me to defend my position. Bryan Caplan, bless his anarchist heart, is the latest offending party:

How about this: A populist movement to drastically reduce the price of housing by slashing the regulatory barriers to new construction? Uh oh, it still sounds like an egghead is talking. Real populism means sound bytes. My best shot so far: Free to Build. 

Everyone from Paul Krugman to Ed Glaeser now highlights the fact that an array of regulations make housing needlessly expensive. A simple populist response: Gut the regulations so we can build more houses that are affordable for the average family. If a private party owns some land, let him develop it. If the government owns some land, let them sell it to the highest bidder, then use the proceeds to cut property taxes.

Simplistic? Sure. If it weren't simplistic, it wouldn't be populism, and wouldn't have a chance of becoming popular. But of course that's only a necessary condition, not a sufficient one. The big question is: Could a majority embrace the cause of Free to Build?

Clearly, Bryan hasn't spent much time at local planning and zoning board meetings. Unfortunately, having spent years toiling away in the doldrums of community newspapers...I have. If he'd seen what I've seen, he'd know the only reasonable answer to his question is -- are you nuts? No, really.....are you friggin' NUTS?!?

Bryan contemplates that vastly expanding the supply of habitable housing would bring down prices of the existing stock of homes, but he reasons that "people generally favor policies because they think they are right, not because they help their bottom line."

All well and good, but believe me, there is NO support out there for the proposition that unfettered land development is right, just, or proper. In contrast, the vagaries of the tax code and the consumerist bent of American culture have combined to ensure that citizens invest wildly disproportionate amounts of their savings in the undiversified asset of home ownership. Anything -- and I do mean anything -- that threatens this nest egg is anathema to the common American.

Moreover, to the extent that those at the grass roots do think about property rights, their notion of what that term means INCLUDES both prevailing market values, and the quality of life they associate with holding the resource in question. If an interloper from the outside -- whether it be a private developer or the state -- contributes to the diminished value of their property, the "populist" reaction is that THAT is a violation of their rights.

Similarly, when a new construction project contributes -- as it nearly always does -- to more traffic, more noise, more overcrowding in the public schools, more teenagers loitering on the streets, and so on, those property owners that have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo band together precisely BECAUSE they feel it's only "right" that the quality of their lives not be disturbed.

I applaud the premise that libertarians, if we want to make a dent in the social fabric, need to focus on causes that can be sold using effective populist rhetoric. I just can't possibly imagine a LESS likely candidate for success than this one.

Comments

[Wild Pegasus]

"If land use regulations were repealed, and it reduced prices, that means anyone could afford to live in town. Think of the traffic and congestion." Mom, on ending zoning regulations.

- Josh

[R.J. Lehmann]

And there are a few hundred million more where your mom came from.

[Kamagra]

Hey, this is cool stuff, something worth my time. Good attempt. Quiet interesting way of narrating interesting stuff. I think you have spent a lot of time in researching as some of the facts were just so shocking and never heard of. I am speechless…

[praphTadOdark]

qmjtfo http://www.uggsonline-bestellen.nl uggs online bestellen hkghvz uggs amerika hejlza uggs online bestellen huuqxm