The Land Development Podcast with Ryan Glick Real Estate Developers Aren’t The Villains, Bad Policy Is with Bryan Caplan - TLP100
Aug 12, 2025
Bryan Caplan, a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and bestselling author, joins to tackle misconceptions about real estate developers. He argues that bad policy, not developers, drives housing issues. The discussion covers the flaws in housing regulations, the rise of YIMBY movements, and how community benefits are often overlooked. Caplan highlights the necessity of more construction for affordability and explores recent regulatory reforms in California, offering a pragmatic view on urban development.
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Neighbors' Package Trumps NIMBY Fears
- People prefer living near neighbors despite the downsides because the package of benefits outweighs harms.
- Government regulation often blocks net-positive construction that benefits both newcomers and neighbors.
Housing Regulation Is Economically Massive
- Housing regulation is a multi-trillion dollar problem that severely limits construction.
- Caplan wrote Build, Baby, Build to make dense economic research accessible and persuasive.
Adopt A 'Buy-Right' Building Regime
- Favor a 'buy-right' system where property owners decide what to build unless courts find physical harm.
- Let owners build and rely on post-hoc legal remedy instead of preemptive bans.
