In a recent interview with 60 Minutes, Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, expressed his concern that America has lost her way. He highlighted issues such as virtue signaling from both political sides, which he believes burdens the American taxpayer, and the prevalence of bloated, restrictive bureaucracies. Dimon illustrated his point by recounting the story of a bridge connecting New Jersey and Staten Island, where securing permits for repairs took twelve years—compared to the eight years it took to send astronauts to the moon...

This is the type of issue addressed in Caplan's fun and insightful little book. He presents arguments in favor of housing and zoning deregulation, thoroughly examines common objections and tests them against the logic of the free market—demonstrating that regulatory approaches are wasteful, repressing, counterproductive, ultimately falling short of their stated aims.

You'll learn fun bits along the way as well. I, for one, didn't know that the Empire State building was erected on the site of the old (and historic) Waldorf Astoria Hotel. Why is this important? Because this is one of the arguments that those in favor of building restrictions appeal to when they want to apply the brakes on a new housing or building project. If the building is deemed "historic" or important to the preservation of "the character of the neighborhood", then this is usually enough to delay and make the project so burdensome as to make the developers want to desist. But as Caplan shows, what could be built in its stead is not seen - hard to imagine the NYC skyline without this iconic tower.

This is bad for everyone. As Thomas Sowell stated:

As for the argument about "preserving" things for "posterity," that boils down to allowing the posterity of existing residents to keep out the posterity of other people.

Highly recommended!