Post

This is one of the best analyses of left anti-development politics that I’ve read. While the specifics refer to California in 2025, the broad outlines characterize housing opposition in most deep blue states and cities.

Anti-capitalism confounds me. Marx, after all, was an actual economist who tried to understand markets. Smith was not being prescriptive with his description of Capitalism; he was being descriptive. Markets exist whether or not you believe in them.

Moreover, they work in predictable ways, whether or not you like those predictions. You can change the market structure, and change the outcome, but if you just huff and puff about "market = bad," the market will still work in accordance with the underlying laws of economics.

Smith's explanation of Capitalism showed clearly how capitalist markets (many competitors, many customers, open data on pricing and quality) provided consumer (i.e., working and middle class folks) better pricing/product than the mercantilist markets that dominated commerce at the time!