Category Archives: Housing

When People Buy a House, They’re Buying a Student Body

Posted on April 27, 2012 by

At Business Insider, Gregor MacDonald writes in “The World Has Little Use For A Suburban American Single Family Home Priced Over $250K” (boldface mine): If there’s one asset the world has little use for, it’s an American single family home … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Housing, Transportation | Leave a comment

Zoning Out the Poor: The Marin County Edition

Posted on April 20, 2012 by

One of the largely unnoticed but critical causes of poverty in urban areas is the use of zoning codes in surrounding towns and suburbs to essentially make it impossible for low-income people to live outside of urban areas (e.g., preventing … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Housing | 2 Comments

The Rent Is Not Too Damn High: Wages Are Too Damn Low

Posted on March 24, 2012 by

I actually have a copy of Matthew Yglesias’ The Rent Is Too Damn High, but haven’t worked my way through it (I couldn’t pass up such a potentially target-rich environment). From what I’ve read so far, it seems primarily aimed … Continue reading →

Posted in Housing | 3 Comments

The Second-Worst Thing About the GOP Becoming the Batshitloonitarian Party: The Carbon Reduction Edition

Posted on March 6, 2012 by

Of course, the worst thing about the GOP becoming the batshitloonitarian party is, as I’ve noted before, they are batshitloonitarians. But one thing it also does is transform merely sane, although not very good, options, into ‘liberal’ policies, when, in … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, Democrats, Energy, Environment, Housing

What’s Wrong with This Energy-Saving Graphic?

Posted on January 27, 2012 by

I’m all for energy conservation–at this point, the CO2 release situation (i.e., global warming) is so dire that anything buys us time. But there’s something wrong with this picture: (from here) It’s a house. A single, detached house. It’s worth … Continue reading →

Posted in Energy, Global Warming, Housing | 4 Comments

Larger Homes Were Not Due to an “Expenditure Cascade” But Were Rational

Posted on December 19, 2011 by

For home builders. One of the problems I have with behavioral economics is that too often what is described as a cognitive or psychological glitch is actually very rational behavior as long as you correctly identify the underlying incentives. Robert … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Big Shitpile, Economics, Housing | 1 Comment

How Mortgage Relief Could Have Been Done Fairly: Profit Sharing As Delayed Penalty

Posted on October 13, 2011 by

If nothing else, it appears that Occupy Wall Street, despite the chattering class’ inability to decipher the obvious, has managed to sneak debt relief onto the List of Suitable Topics for Discussion. Steve Randy Waldman, in an interesting post, about … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Shitpile, Economics, Housing | 6 Comments

Actually, Apartment Buildings Are Sexy

Posted on July 28, 2011 by

Improving your home’s energy efficiency is something you should do–and you don’t have to wait for anyone else. But there is a larger issue of how we live and organize our communities that also needs to be addressed.
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Posted in Energy, Environment, Housing, Transportation | 7 Comments

The Complete Breakdown of Law Regarding Home Ownership: The Essex County, MA Edition

Posted on July 2, 2011 by

“My [housing title] registry is a crime scene as evidenced by this forensic examination.” Five out of six Essex County mortgage assignments are invalid. Nice rule of law you got there…
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Posted in Bidness, Big Shitpile, Housing, The Rule of Law | 1 Comment

What Is Really Required to Move to a Renewable Energy Future: The Lance Mannion Edition

Posted on April 3, 2011 by

This is not going to be easy to fix. Not at all.
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Posted in Energy, Environment, Global Warming, Housing, Nukular Stuff, Oil, Transportation | 7 Comments