Ruhi Maker

Legalizing triplexes doesn’t guarantee they get built. Minneapolis built 37 in the 2.5 years after 2020, versus 72 duplexes. A third home can trigger a costlier building code, so cities and states should review those rules alongside zoning. www.strongtowns.org/journal/2026...

This all-star team just published what's easily the best paper on how to think about private equity as it exists today. There's no longer a single answer, private equity is several things at once. @rooseveltinstitute.org rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

We estimate that a citywide, more easy-to-implement accessory dwelling unit (ADU) policy could have resulted in roughly 3.5 times as many ADUs being permitted as what actually occurred since 2020. ADUs could become a big part of the city's housing development pipeline. Read our full analysis ⏬

A new era for Oxford Street starts now.

LA mayoral candidate Nithya Raman says fewer than 10% of new LA homes are for sale because for-sale projects face higher fees, tougher approvals, easier appeals, and greater liability risk. www.realtor.com/news/real-es...

Middle-income renters saw the sharpest rise in missed or late rent, from about 14% in 2024 to nearly 22% in 2025, the Urban Institute finds. Homeowners' ability to pay their mortgages has held steady for seven years. www.npr.org/2026/09/23/n...

He can’t do it alone, but with help from housing advocates, he can do a lot.😊

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/21/o...

A law review paper using San Francisco evidence finds that local zoning can shut out low-income residents in the city and region, weakening the case for local control. The author says some state preemption can balance power between governments. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

We were honored to be asked to present this webinar. More ADU's, less parking mandates and more density. Thanks to CM Lupien, Martin and Smith for hosting. Cody and Bill Price for joining @reconnectroc.bsky.social

A group of anonymous senior insurance just issued a warning memo, “Sounding the Alarm, saying: “Insurance is necessary to access a mortgage. We foresee an economic risk that could precede a financial crash in the way that the sub-prime mortgage crisis catalysed the Global Financial Crisis.”

A recent @economist.com article highlighted Princeton Professor Owen Zidar’s (@omzidar.bsky.social) new book, "The Everywhere Millionaire," which explores the overlooked world of America’s wealthy private business owners and their impact on the economy. Read: https://econ.st/449wRce

everywheremillionaire.substack.com/p/the-abcs-o...

How do some "small business" owners profit from politics? Chicago Booth’s Eric Zwick discusses his new book (with Princeton's @omzidar.bsky.social) and how the wealthy bend policy to their advantage. www.chicagobooth.edu/review/podca...

Finally read The Everywhere Millionaire by @omzidar.bsky.social & Eric Zwick. Lived up to my high expectations: extensive reporting that contextualizes their pathbreaking research. All policymakers should read it, might reduce invoking of "small business" while helping multimillionaires.

Austin grew its housing stock by 10.5% from 2021 to 2025, versus 3.2% nationally. Rents fell from above $1,600 to about $1,300, with the biggest drops in older, cheaper buildings.

Read more: www.nationalreview.com/corner/anoth...

it is very funny to me that we libs have become the pocket constitution party now

Pre-reviewed home designs cut permit time, but only alongside wider reforms. Claremore, OK officials estimate 80% faster approvals. But Cupertino's designs have produced only three backyard homes because other reviews still apply. bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/pa...

Urban Institute finds one in five working-age renters paid rent late or short in 2025. The middle-income share grew fastest. Co-author Samantha Batko says these renters end up moving to cheaper homes, displacing lower-income renters. www.marketplace.org/story/2026/0...

The wealthiest in our country should pay their fair share into Social Security. Scrap the cap!

Empire Justice Center is thrilled to announce that three of our staff attorneys are being recognized for their years of dedication to teaching, practicing, and changing the law for all New Yorkers! Congratulations! 🎉 Read the full press release here: empirejustice.org/news/three-e...

Another manly masculine Guardian Of Pedophiles congressman bravely displays his high-T by dodging questions about his Iran war position from a woman.

Hey! Australia is first nation to formally endorse the drive for 300 million solar rooftops across our planet. We can do this! www.globalsolarcouncil.org/news/austral...

Allowing backyard homes is step one. Helping people actually build them matters too. 🧰 Five states are using grants, financing, fee relief, and technical assistance to help turn the option of an ADU into an actual home.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗙𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟭𝟲 @ 𝟭𝟮:𝟭𝟱 𝗽𝗺 𝗘𝗧: Capital costs drive housing prices and rents. A new paper proposes a federal program offering below-market debt to public, private, and nonprofit developers who cap rents and prices at actual project costs. Could it work? www.jchs.harvard.edu/calendar/fin...

We Know How to Fix Homelessness. Why Don’t More Cities Do It? www.nytimes.com/2026/10/13/o...

This is the deepest crisis of Western democracy since the Nazi era. Growing up in Nuremberg, I have learned that being anti-fascist is my first civic duty. There can’t be a question which side I’m on, as a human and an economist. As a student of FDR, I say: “I welcome their hatred.”

If you are shocked this am that Trump’s government executed a search warrant against a Democratic Member of Congress and ignored a judge’s order then you haven’t been paying attention. Stop saying this isn’t how it works in the US. It is exactly how it works under Trump.

In a twisted authoritarian spectacle, federal agents raided Ilhan Omar's home this morning. Trump has made no secret of his disdain for the Congresswoman – frequently using racist, tyrannical drivel to express an unhinged desire to expel her from the country.

NEW: Prime Minister Andy Burnham finally breaks a decade of UK govt silence…& reveals there was ‘clear’ Russian interference in the Brexit vote. 1/

In nine states and D.C., Pew finds that 16% to 34% of poverty traces to above-average housing costs. If reforms cut rents by 20%, as in Austin and Minneapolis, poverty could fall by 18% to 26%. www.pew.org/en/research-...

projects.propublica.org/american-cit...

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/09/o...

“Every time someone is sleeping on a subway bench in a city, the rest of America can sort of say, ‘Ah, look at these cities.’ But we are holding a lot of your people who you fail to love and take care of.” 🥹

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/07/o...

Changing zoning is only part of the equation. 🏗️ New Boston Indicators research finds that discretionary permitting can delay or derail housing even where zoning already allows it. The report examines six Massachusetts projects and where the process gets stuck.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/u...

I believe in Medicare for All like I believe in public schools. There for you no matter what.

Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/03/o...

Trump trashes U.S. auto competitiveness as yet another service to his corrupt fossil fuel donors.

"A drop of approximately 20% in inflation-adjusted rents—as happened in Austin, Texas, and Minneapolis after those cities made reforms—could reduce poverty by 18% to 26% and child poverty by 21% to 38%." @pewresearch.org www.pew.org/en/research-...

Looking forward to speaking at this event on 22nd October at @lsesociology.bsky.social www.lse.ac.uk/sociology/ev...

It’s day 1 of #weekwithoutdriving ! Today we’re discussing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with Senator Jeremy Cooney, Chair of the Transportation Committee.

October is around the corner, and for millions of Americans, that means rent is almost due. But, with rising costs across the economy, meeting those monthly payments is becoming increasingly difficult. A new analysis finds that one in five working-age renters struggled to pay rent last year.

New article just dropped in APSR! Leah Downey and yours truly on why people should stop using “democratize” when all they really mean is increasing market access. (Looking at you, economists! 👀) And, more positively, what a better vision of “democratization” looks like when applied to finance.

We have a report on Housing Policy that Solves Climate Change - check it out here: climatecabineteducation.org/housing-poli...