Build, Baby, Build by Bryan Caplan

Build, Baby, Build by Bryan Caplan

In this exciting new graphic novel, economist Bryan Caplan examines how changes to housing regulation can lead us to a vastly better world.

Why are housing prices in America so unbelievably high, especially in the country's most desirable locations? The superficial answer is supply and demand, but the deep answer--the reason supply is so low--is draconian housing regulation.

In>Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation, economist Bryan Caplan makes the economic and philosophical case for radical deregulation of this massive market--freeing property owners to build as tall and dense as they wish. Not only would the average price of housing be cut in half, but the building boom unleashed by deregulation would simultaneously reduce inequality, increase social mobility, promote economic growth, reduce homelessness, increase birth rates, and help the environment. It's surprising then, that despite all these benefits, housing deregulation is universally unpopular with policymakers.

Combining visually stunning graphics and careful interdisciplinary research, Build, Baby, Build takes readers on a journey through what is wrong with the housing market--and what we can do about it.

Bryan Caplan is an economics professor at George Mason University and an EconLog writer. He is the author of The Myth of the Rational Voter: Why Democracies Pick Poor Policies (Princeton) and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids: Why Being a Wonderful Parent Is Less Work and More Fun Than You Think. He currently resides in Oakton, Virginia.