Reverse Musical Chairs

One of the main problems with selling housing deregulation is the perception that new construction “only benefits the rich.”  Rich developers of course, but also rich home-buyers.  It’s easy to see where casual observers get this idea.  New housing is usually nice housing, because over time technology improves and capital depreciates.  Since richer people are more willing to pay the upcharge for nicer housing, the future residents of new construction are usually well-to-do. So what do casual observers miss?

Dr. Seuss Monetizes the Culture Wars

On March 2 — the late Theodor Seuss Geisel’s 117th birthday — Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced that, some time last year, it ceased publishing/licensing six of the popular author’s children’s books which “portray people in ways that are hurtful and wrong.” Cue woke approval, deplorable outrage, investor interest, and low-information reader fear, all of which are good for business.

Mask Mandates: Pope Joe versus “The Science”

“Look, I hope everybody’s realized by now, these masks make a difference,” said President Joe Biden in response to the lifting of mask mandates in Texas and Mississippi.  “[T]he last thing we need is Neanderthal thinking that [as vaccines roll out], everything’s fine, take off your mask, forget it. It still matters.” Biden’s statement abandons “the science” in at least two ways.