From destroying minor parties’ ballot access to making it harder for poorer Ohioans to vote, Ohio Republicans seem to not understand the basic definition of “republic” at all.
https://columbusfreepress.com/article/republic-if-we-can-keep-it-0
Category: Regulation
Posts about government regulation
On the Mercantilist and Monarchial Origins of the Concept of the ‘Balance of Trade’
As Adam Smith explained so brilliantly, if the goal of economic policy is – as it should be – the achievement of prosperity as great as possible for ordinary people, mercantilism fails. It impoverishes ordinary people rather than enriches them.
A Four Point Plan for Every City
If you agree that local politics should be about protecting others’ liberty to become the people they want to become rather than giving you the tools to turn them into the people you want them to become, what should your city do? Here are four suggestions.
Study: Banning Investors From Buying Homes Leads to Higher Rents, More Gentrification
Home prices were unaffected by a ban on buy-to-rent housing in the Netherlands, but more affordable rental housing disappeared.
Policy makers would do better to look for ways to expand housing supply through deregulation of construction and mortgage finance than passing laws restricting who’s allowed to buy a house.
The Supreme Court’s 150‐year Mistake
Though the Supreme Court has come a long way in protecting equality before the law, it still refuses to protect the right to earn a living
https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-courts-150-year-mistake#readmore
Court Orders Phoenix to Clean Up Homeless Encampments in “The Zone”
Residents and business owners use public nuisance laws to force action
In other words, the city government has effectively thrown up its hands; largely ignored the plight of those experiencing homelessness, residents, workers, and business owners in The Zone; and focused instead on growing the bureaucracy, feeding the homeless-industrial complex, and eschewing short-term action for expensive, ineffective, long-term approaches
Massachusetts’ Tobacco Ban Went as Badly as You’d Expect
And now the state thinks it needs to crack down even more.
States that wish to avoid making the same mistake should view Massachusetts as a warning, not a role model.
https://reason.com/2023/03/09/massachusetts-tobacco-ban-went-as-badly-as-youd-expect/
Americans Worried about Housing Costs, Open to YIMBY
Policymakers across the country should marshal current public support for building more homes and make zoning reform a policy priority. Doing so would unlock opportunity for a wide variety of people.
https://www.cato.org/blog/americans-worried-about-housing-cost-open-yimby
How a Public Housing Project Became an Unplanned Neighborhood
A favela in southern Brazil shows the upside of an “invasive” urban form—and offers lessons for U.S. housing policy.
Monte Cristo shows how this can flower into something more open and affordable: by avoiding excessive rules in the first place.
https://reason.com/2023/02/19/how-a-public-housing-project-became-an-unplanned-neighborhood/
Let Housing Markets Work
Two stalled developments in New York City demonstrate a flawed approach to affordability. By demanding affordable “set-asides,” the city forces market-rate units to subsidize low-rent ones.