Regarding this issue, here's a quote from Murray Rothbard's _Power and
Market: Government and the Economy_:
"It is curious that almost all writers parrot the notion that private
owners, possessing time preference, must take the 'short view,' while only
government officials can take the 'long view
Local government gets involved with Building Codes..both in how ugly and how far one
can allow the property to degrade. They usually set minimums acceptable standards by
the community. The home owner associations go farther in particular areas. One can
live in a community with strict buildin
> Markets do very well at allocating goods like coffee or gasoline or
clothes
> in the short term because of their flexibility in response to short term
> preferences. They don't do well in things like supplying housing in proper
> configurations and locations because housing is a durable good th
--- Ben Berry <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Markets ... don't do well in things like supplying housing in
> proper configurations and locations because housing is a durable
good that once sold is relatively permanent (30-100 years or more).<
It depends on the particular market. If a housing devel
"Since they won't be living in the places more than 5 or 10 years they don't
care if the place is ugly to most people or shoddily constructed."
I don't think many rational people would build a home that was (1)
considered ugly or of very poor quality by most people and (2) a home he
expected to
Ben wrote (his professors argument):
>>Markets do very well at allocating goods like coffee or gasoline or
clothes
in the short term because of their flexibility in response to short term
preferences. They don't do well in things like supplying housing in proper
configurations and locations becau
>From: "Ben Berry" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>Subject: the justification for urban planning
>Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 21:18:23 -0700
>
>
>Markets do very well at allocating goods like coffee or gasoline
On Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:18 PM Ben Berry [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Markets do very well at allocating goods like coffee or gasoline or
clothes
> in the short term because of their flexibility in response to short term
> preferences. They don't do well in things like supplying housing in pr
I'm a student of Urban Planning at the University of Southern California. I
find myself increasingly skeptical about nearly all of the interventionist
policies they present to us as good ideas ("smart growth", zoning, etc.). I
think given the right institutions, externality and public goods proble