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Dave Stuhlsatz's avatar

For some reason I'm annoyed that you're right about this. Probably because for many years I've bought into the notion that the American Heartland was a forsaken, hopeless waste because of technological change and the outmigration that came along with that. Curiously, population trends in the Northeast were similar to the Midwest from 1970ish to 2000ish for the exact same reasons--although the Northeast replaced incumbent industries like textiles with more expensive stuff like computers and biotech. From 2000 to 2006 there was a resurgence of homebuilding that was then stabbed to death by Fed actions. Granted, there are cities that are making a comeback, but the trends in places like Canton are not good because of the mortgage access problem. Ironically, the affordability of older houses in many parts of the Midwest has a dampening effect on any type of improvement. "Look how cheap those houses are-no one would want to live there!"

Off topic, the Economist article on housing in Taiwan was simply bizarre. Whenever I think the U.S. has taken the trophy for bad housing policies I read about places like that or Ireland or the U.K.

Off/On topic the piece in the Atlantic about the reasons for mobility declines in this country. We have met the enemy and she is......Jane Jacobs.

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Benjamin Cole's avatar

Another superior report on housing from KE.

Side thought: Tell your kids to go into something related to housing rehab, fix-up, repair.

America's housing stock is aging about one year for every year, there is so little new construction. Pipes get old, wiring dangerous or outdated, roofs leak, timber rotted and so on. I don't think AI can solve this one.

Fixing cars is another trade. The average age of car on the US road is now more than 12 years, and rising. Again, these are one-off situations, not something AI can do.

Side note:

This problem of expensive housing seems widespread, even globally. Aussie, Canada, Hong Kong, South Korea, UK. Whole populations have moved into decline.

Something about urbanity.

Orthodox macroeconomists say, "No problem. Just offshore having and raising babies."

I wonder.

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