Is Crypto Bullshit?As you may have gathered from my previous post, I’ve become interested in cryptocurrency and blockchain regulation. I’ve honestly been a little hesitant to write about this stuff because opinions on the subject are oddly polarized. I know I’ve got… Nov 10 21November 10, 2021Article at Model Citizen
The Infrastructure Bill's Tough Lessons for CryptolandAmerica's emerging crypto interests need to get their heads in the political game and invest in allaying the state's fear of financial disintermediation The crypto/blockchain world seems pretty well tuned into regulatory developments, and rumors… Nov 09 21November 09, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Before Truth: Curiosity, Negative Capability, HumilityMy old friend John Tomasi, newly installed as the President of the Heterodox Academy, has written a lovely, stimulating, little essay in praise of curiosity. I encourage you to read it. John gently takes issue with another essay, written by Heterodox… Oct 12 21October 12, 2021Article at Model Citizen
A Case Study in NIMBY EntitlementThe former mayor of Beverly Hills is SO MAD about duplexes! I’m a little late to this but don’t want to let the delicious opportunity pass. John Mirisch, former mayor of Beverly Hills mayor and a current city council member, recently graced us with a… Oct 01 21October 01, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Larry Elder tried his own Big Lie. He did Democrats — and democracy — a favor.This week, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom crushed the bid to oust him from office by a roughly 27-percentage-point, 2.5 million-vote margin, with around three-quarters of votes counted as of Wednesday. Unseating Newsom was unlikely. But that… Sep 16 21September 16, 2021Article at Washington Post
Republicans Finally Caught the Car (Subscriber Audio)Subscriber audio of “Republicans Finally Caught the Car,” Model Citizen, September 3, 2021 Sep 04 21September 04, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Republicans Finally Caught the CarThe Back-Alley Reversal of Roe Just Made the GOP Unsafe for Right-leaning Women Texas has banned abortion, more or less. Terminating a pregnancy is now categorically forbidden in the Lone Star State except in the brief period before the embryo… Sep 03 21September 03, 2021Article at Model Citizen
The Density Divide and the Southernification of Rural America (Subscriber Audio)Subscriber audio of “The Density Divide and the Southernification of Rural America,” Model Citizen, August 30, 2021 Aug 31 21August 31, 2021Article at Model Citizen
The Density Divide and the Southernification of Rural AmericaWhen I was a kid, the accents changed. Driving north from central Iowa through the corn toward Minnesota, the dialect would gradually get a little Fargo — a little Norwegian bachelor farmer — maybe an hour or so from the border. Past “the Cities,”… Aug 30 21August 30, 2021Article at Model Citizen
I'm So Intellectually Brave!According to the promo copy for Honestly with Bari Weiss, a podcast hosted by Bari Weiss, “The most interesting conversations in American life now happen in private.” These conversations are so interesting, we are meant to understand, because they… Aug 18 21August 18, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Q, Trust, and YouThe QAnon conspiracy narrative is built from absolutely insane pieces and lots of people believe in it. I knew that already. But it hits differently when you see it. Watching the first episodes of Q: Into the Storm on HBO and its depiction of totally… Jun 30 21June 30, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Does Zoning Cause Racism? Does Negative Polarization Cause Woke YIMBY Reform?TLDR: Definitely; Maybe It’s now widely known that the distinctive American style of zoning developed to segregate populations by race and class. By the late 19th century, the American upper and middle classes had already developed a pastoral,… Jun 24 21June 24, 2021Article at Model Citizen
There's Nothing Especially Democratic about Local Control of Land UseCalifornia Senate Bill 50, legislation developed by Scott Weiner, a pro-housing state senator, would have made it easier for developers to build new, dense housing near mass transit. Despite several major revisions, SB 50 failed to clear the senate… Jun 16 21June 16, 2021Article at Model Citizen
NIMBYism and the Externalities of Non-DevelopmentIt’s conventional wisdom that land use regulation, like zoning, is a “local issue.” It isn’t, really. As David Schleicher and I recently discussed, restrictive zoning regulations in cities across the country have an enormous macroeconomic impact. An… Jun 13 21June 13, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Shrinking CaliforniaCalifornia’s population is shrinking. The Los Angeles Times reported: California lost 182,083 people in 2020, though it remains the most populous state, with just under 39.5 million residents. The state will lose a congressional seat for the first… Jun 01 21June 01, 2021Article at Model Citizen
The Anti-Majoritarian Mistake (Subscriber Audio)Subscriber audio of “The Anti-Majoritarian Mistake,” Model Citizen, April 22, 2021 Apr 22 21April 22, 2021Article at Model Citizen
The Anti-Majoritarian MistakeThis Dispatch piece by Jonah Goldberg is extremely useful in illustrating the centrality of anti-majoritarianism on the right. Jonah has been a consistent critic of Trump and the GOP’s loony, violent, authoritarian turn. However, even the most… Apr 22 21April 22, 2021Article at Model Citizen
How Zoning Screws up EverythingThis is my question: can we YIMBY harder? Many people are awakening to the enormous costs of restrictive municipal land use and zoning. But what can we do about it? Most assume that restrictive zoning and skyrocketing housing costs are local issues… Apr 16 21April 16, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Codifying the Big Lie (Subscriber Audio)Subscriber audio of “Codifying the Big Lie,” Model Citizen, April 12, 2021 Apr 13 21April 13, 2021Article at Model Citizen
Codifying the Big LieI’ve been trying to keep my cool, but the right’s defense of new Republican-authored laws regulating elections, such as the one recently established in Georgia, is so dishonest it’s hard to stay on an even keel. But I’m trying, man. I’m trying. It’s… Apr 12 21April 12, 2021Article at Model Citizen
