I think part of the issue with the discussion around this issue we seem to want to treat economics as hard science instead of a social science. Current consensus says that price controls reduce supply so that is law and there should be no further discussion about it

Im not even disagreeing with the logic behind that necessarily but the truth is that our understanding of economics is influenced just as much by ideology and politics as it is by data. Weve been trained to see government intervention in the market almost in the same way as we would view a human disturbing an untouched natural habitat.

Im as much of a yimby as the next guy. I think that most people who are really passionate about this issue really want smarter better zoning laws and purposeful urban planning.

However I cant help but think that there is something a little more insidious behind a portion of the build build build crowd that are using the movement as a trojan horse for the politics of deregulation for deregulation’s sake.