Are you worried that you or your children can’t afford to buy a home? Does your rent eat up an ever-growing share of your income? Do you blame overpopulation? Scarcity of land? Greedy construction companies? Ruthless landlords?
What if I told you that these problems were all caused by government interventions and the solution is very simple? Are you ready to take the red pill?
When the bubonic plague spread in Cape Town in 1901, British officers blamed it on the indigenous population. Even though infection rates were not higher in their neighborhoods, Africans were forcibly removed from their homes and relocated to a sewage farm.
During the Boer Wars, racist colonial authorities saw the health crisis as a golden opportunity to grow their power. They used junk science to implement the first policies of apartheid. The effects plagued the country for a century.
In the 1960’s, other racists implemented similar measures in Belgian Congo. They segregated the capital, Leopoldville, based on the belief that blacks were spreading “African” diseases into white residential areas.
To understand how these stories relate to your home prices and local rent, consider the consequences of the rise of progressivism in America. The leading health “experts” of the early 1900’s were dealing with much worse crises than COVID. Cholera, typhoid, smallpox, and tuberculosis epidemics were common in the 19th century.
Based on the science of “miasma” or “bad air,” racist politicians implemented their own progressive segregation plans. It was all in the name of the “public good.” And thus, began America’s experiment of zoning and urban planning.
The restrictions were driven by fears that immigrants and poor people in high-density neighborhoods with cheap housing incubate and spread infectious diseases. Moving residential areas away from businesses made our cities “unwalkable,” housing less affordable, and neighborhoods segregated on racial and ethnic principles.
Fast forward a few decades to a time when progressives don’t remember their racist past while their legacy lives on. By 1970, landlords and homeowners learned how to manipulate the political process in their favor. The absurdities of the results are illustrated in a very entertaining way in Chapter 13 of Ken Schoolland’s global bestseller, “The Adventures of Jonathan Gullible.” (Side note: This hilariously thought-provoking book is Northwood’s Fall 2024 Omniquest selection — and it’s well worth a read from our When Free to Choose subscribers).
As people exploited the political process, restrictive zoning rules became normalized, and large cities saw significant increases in housing prices and rents, even as construction costs were declining.
Even today we perpetuate policies that manufacture scarcity, based on forgotten junk science and rejected racist ideas. We restrict economic mobility, slow down productivity gains, and increase regional income inequalities.
If the solution to the housing problem — deregulated architecture — is not obvious by now, read economist Bryan Caplan’s graphic novel illustrated by Ady Branzei, “Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing.”
As with any other goods or services, we can make owning homes and renting apartments more affordable by ending all social engineering experiments. We need to remove all harmful government restrictions and let free enterprise respond to consumer demand in this and every other market.
About this Author
Noel Tokarev is a Northwood University student from Midland, Michigan. He was inspired to write this piece for the November 2024 edition of When Free to Choose after attending a Northwood University Freedom Seminar lecture this fall. The Freedom Seminar will continue to host weekly programming through early December. Visit www.northwood.edu/freedom-seminar for more information. Click here to subscribe to When Free to Choose, Northwood’s signature publication promoting free enterprise.
