If somebody were to start an engineering textbook by saying that the maximum theoretical speed of a perfect car was … Continue reading “Do markets fail?”

Apparently unaware of Ed Miliband’s recent announcements that a Labour government would cut the Housing Benefit bill by building more … Continue reading “Proper localism or proper centralism: a house divided cannot stand”

Nobody quite remembers when and why this law originally came to pass, but at some point in the distant past, … Continue reading “Housing and bread: an analogy”

With the benefit of hindsight, articles on inflation from pre-monetarist days can make a very amusing read. Back then, economic … Continue reading “Anything but planning: our housing debate is like the 1970s debate on inflation”

‘Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.’ – Mark Twain The UK economy is beset by three compounding problems: no growth, … Continue reading “The case for a land-value tax”

Relying on growth was always going to be a risky strategy. Yet a healthy recovery, with robust GDP increases of … Continue reading “Cut more, regulate less”

I have received quite a bit of feedback for my recent paper, ‘Abundance of land, shortage of housing’, and would … Continue reading “Abundance of land, shortage of housing: a rejoinder”

Every government retreats on some issue or other eventually, realising that the political cost outweighs the benefit. But for this … Continue reading “The planning reform that wasn’t: the coalition surrenders to the NIMBYs”

‘And goodbye to one of our lovely Bumblebee health-food shops in north London, finally defeated by another greedy developer who … Continue reading “A cheer for honest nimbyism”