Readers may recall that I have criticized politician-dentist Roy Nosek for his advocacy of limitations on student housing. Here are some of my posts on the subject:
On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 1 (Economics)
On Nosek on Student Housing, Part 2 (Culture)
One of the points that I have made is that Nosek’s views are ill-presented and jumbled; they’re cultural as much as economic. My best guess is that Nosek’s advocacy of zoning restrictions, followed with code enforcement efforts, and preferences for young couples over other buyers, would both increase housing prices and later lead to a collapse in prices in then-stagnant neighborhoods.
There’s ample, readily available information to support this assessment. Randal O’Toole of Cato has a post with links to well-researched studies confirming that land use planning increases housing prices, entitled “Land Use Regulation and the Credit Crisis.”
What’s telling, though, is that O’Toole also cites research from economist Edward Glaeser that land-use regulations also make housing prices more prone to crashes.
Nosek evidences not slightest understanding of economics, and thus not the faintest awareness that the restrictions he favors increase housing costs and shortages throughout the city.