The capital markets framing cuts through so much noise around housing debates. Fellman's point about density being a symptom of high prices rather than a cure flips the YIMBY supply obsession on its head. The Japan example is particularly telling since permissive zoning coexisted with 10x price increases during the asset bubble, proving that credit conditions and investor demand trump zoning reform every time. His insight about GSEs as redistributive instruments rather than just mortgage facilitators reframes the entire privatization debate in ways that should terrify anyone who thinks housing abundnce is just a construction problem.
The capital markets framing cuts through so much noise around housing debates. Fellman's point about density being a symptom of high prices rather than a cure flips the YIMBY supply obsession on its head. The Japan example is particularly telling since permissive zoning coexisted with 10x price increases during the asset bubble, proving that credit conditions and investor demand trump zoning reform every time. His insight about GSEs as redistributive instruments rather than just mortgage facilitators reframes the entire privatization debate in ways that should terrify anyone who thinks housing abundnce is just a construction problem.