Westmont杂志 Housing: A Self-Inflicted Crisis - This is One Problem Santa Barbara Can Build Its Way Out Of
作者:亚伦·库克
这篇观点文章发表在9月24日的《ag娱乐官网》上, 2022, 并经许可转载. It represents the views of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of the college.
Two recent opinion pieces on rent control and stabilization failed to state a clear economic reality: Any short-term fixes to the housing crisis in Santa Barbara must be combined with policies that encourage the construction of additional housing units. 这一行动方针将扩大可用的供应, allowing the individuals who work and contribute to the Santa Barbara community to live in Santa Barbara. 额外的建筑应该尽快开工.
这两个观点, “租金管制会伤害穷人”和“租金稳定是必要的工具”,” discussed the imposition of price controls on the market for tenant-occupied housing, 也被称为租金管制. Neither piece was an adequate explanation of the situation or of effective solutions. 更重要的是, each suffers from a lack of understanding of the incentives of both renters and landlords.
圣巴巴拉的住房存量受到自然和人为的限制. The natural constraints are federal land — Los Padres National Forest — and the Pacific Ocean. 人为限制的发生有很多原因, 比如分区, 树立环保主义的形象, 以及ag娱乐官网住在哪里和住在谁旁边的个人阶级歧视. People’s desire to not live near individuals of different socio-economic status who serve their food or maintain their property has a long history in this country. 此外，还有资源限制，特别是水资源. However, these constraints can be overcome with innovation, investment, and proper pricing.
圣巴巴拉可以采取措施鼓励高密度住房, 比如公寓和三层公寓, 尤其是混合用途住房, 一楼为商业，二楼和三楼为住宅, 不会变成城市疫病宣传者的幻想. Recent reSearch from the Mercatus Center found that constrained housing supply drives rent increases, 而且这些增长不成比例地落在了低收入家庭身上.
住房危机促使ag娱乐官网呼吁帮助, 政府干预以限制价格是一个诱人的选择. 然而，价格控制几乎总是失败. The most recent nationwide attempt was when President Nixon imposed price controls after the withdrawal of the U.S. 美元脱离金本位制. 就像尼克松总统的许多政策一样, 这是一个长期问题的短期解决方案, 以灾难告终. 价格包含了我们用来做出明智决定的信息. 信息受到的审查和压制就越多, 市场就越难适应短缺和过剩.
短缺是由于实行价格上限造成的. When combined with a supply constraint, finding housing becomes even more difficult. What has often happened in the past is that a subset of lucky and/or felonious individuals win the rent control lottery and are able to live in rent controlled units, 将这些单位的竞争推向了黑市, 贿赂和欺诈成为分配的新仲裁者. 有悖常理的是, 租金管制可能有利于那些觉得违法很舒服的房东, 因为他们现在将拥有一种更加稀缺的资源，而这种资源仍有很高的需求. 这些负面后果将与强制遵守的能力相互作用, 哪些是重大的行政负担. 斯德哥尔摩就是一个很好的例子, 瑞典, where there is a nine-year wait to get an apartment and close to a 20-year wait for a more desirable apartment; reports of bribery and sexual harassment are common.
对于目前的住房短缺问题，有许多可能的解决办法. 但没有任何解决方案比建造更多的住房更有效. The city government can create a policy environment in which developers will be encouraged to build additional housing. 明尼阿波利斯就是一个例子, a city that removed single family zoning and took steps to reduce unpredictability in building, 这会伤害低收入家庭. Santa Barbara will also need to fund infrastructure investment to support the new building. In this city, hotels and vacation rentals face a 12 percent transient occupancy tax. 这收了31美元.2022财年的预算为700万美元. A short-term increase in this tax to improve necessary infrastructure for new housing would reduce demand for vacation rentals on the margin. 对无人居住的房屋征税, 例如2017年在温哥华实施的, 也会产生必要的收入吗. The surcharges could be removed when total available housing occupancy increases by a set percentage, aligning powerful economic interests with the outcome of greater housing availability.
Climate change will impact the demand for living in Santa Barbara in the coming decades, 尽管这种巨大变化的数量性质尚不清楚. 我们所知道的是，圣巴巴拉将需要, 作为一个自治市, 作为一个经济体, 作为一个ag娱乐官网, 灵活和适应性强. 对新思想和新技术持开放态度, and willingness to trade short-term outlooks for long-term investments will be crucial to weathering the storms to come.
简而言之，直接控制房价是一个错误. Not allowing the individuals who contribute economically and socially to this community to actually live in this community is a mistake. 这是圣巴巴拉多年来一直在犯的错误, 每次它都选择阻止高密度和混合用途的住房.
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in.”
作者简介
作为国际经济学家做出贡献
被招募到韦斯特蒙特大学打网球, 亚伦库克 ’11 developed an interest in economics when the 2008 recession devastated the lives of so many people throughout the world. 他创立了自己的专业, 国际经济, which incorporated sociology and anthropology courses as well as traditional offerings in economics and business. 他将于6月开始一份新工作，担任美国经济和社会事务部的国际经济学家.S. 财政部，在那里他会追求他对这个领域的热情.
大学毕业后, Aaron worked for several years on the modeling and forecasting team at Yardi Systems in Santa Barbara. He then entered a doctoral program at the University of Connecticut and completed his degree in economics in 2018.
“我想更深入地研究经济学领域, 博士学位提供了一个在世界上产生更大影响的路线图,他说. “我一直想为我的国家和社会做贡献, 从我当童子军和鹰级童子军开始. 我的信念要求我全力以赴. 我问自己，怎样才能做到最好? 我在哪里，我要去哪里? 约拿知道神要他做什么. 这对我们来说并不总是显而易见的.”
三年了, Aaron worked for the Executive Office of the President as chief economist for macroeconomic policy. 具体地说, he served in the Office of Management and Budget and Council of Economic Advisers as a nonpartisan economic adviser for the Trump and Biden Administrations. He led teams of junior economists in responding to fast-paced crisis situations and contributed to reports and press releases.
“I interpreted day-to-day economic information and communicated complex topics in easily understood formats for non-experts, 包括政府内部和外部,他说. “每天都有新的挑战. 我学到了很多——我的人生目标之一就是继续学习.”
他的工作还包括研究. An ongoing project assesses the macroeconomic impact of government interventions to limit the spread of the coronavirus. 他还研究了财富的代际转移.
Aaron received the Executive Office of the President Professional Achievement Group Award for excellence in leading a cross-specialty team to address a major policy challenge.
He returned to Westmont in fall 2022 for a one-year appointment teaching economics and business classes. “这是超现实的，”他说. “很多事情发生了变化，但也有很多事情没有改变. 我在校园里走的时候会觉得很郁闷.亚伦在韦斯特蒙特大学遇到了他的妻子，11岁的蕾西·保尔森. 英语专业, she has worked in the Santa Barbara City Public Works Department as a writer and an editor during the past year.
他们充分利用了在圣巴巴拉的时光, 喜欢去海滩，吃当地的墨西哥卷饼, 他们错过了两件事.