Scott Miller

We’ll revisit “affordable housing” and, more generally, the intersection of government regulation (zoning laws) and the optimal housing configuration in a climate-change environment—these may be in conflict.

If you’re looking to get out of the shade, here are three pieces (two opinions, one “article”) from the NY Times and the Washington Post:

• A new approach on housing affordability (NYT Editorial Board)
• Only Washington can solve the nation’s housing crisis (NYT)
• Tech start-ups look to disrupt the affordable housing industry (WashPost)

Last week, the official topic was about the appropriate extent of “government” in our society (focusing on the U.S.). We spent some time on the subject, but there’s a lot more to discuss.

So, this week, we’ll continue the topic, exploring where the line should be drawn between “government services” and (as libertarians might put it) the freedom to succeed—or to fail.

To help get us (re-)started, here’s a recent Washington Post op-ed from Charles Lane, entitled: “Democrats point to Nordic nations as models of socialism. Here’s how they actually work. (2 pages)”

Lane’s commentary appears to be founded, in part, on a report by Michael Cembalest, head of JP Morgan Asset Management (with ~$2.0 trillion under management), entitled “Lost in Space: The Search for Democratic Socialism in the Real World… (11 pages)”

I offer double the speaking time to everyone who reads both pieces (should only take 10 minutes)!

This week’s topic started with “Are taxes the price of democracy?” and migrated pretty quickly to “How much democracy do we need?”

We should discuss—

• Are “democracy” and “government” essentially synonymous in this context?
• Is more government/democracy always better than less? Where should the line be drawn?
• With the Democrats reportedly going “hard left,” do they/we really understand what European Social Democrats stand for? And how their social programs really work?
• What are the disadvantages of more government? Are they playing out in Europe? Or is Europe somehow different?

We’ve discussed this topic (or close relatives) before, but the current Democratic Presidential primary race, together with the ascendant power of the Progressive Caucus in Congress, make it even more relevant today.