It’s bigger than the housing crisis: An influential economist just blamed NIMBYs for American decline, and Elon Musk agrees

Fortune via Yahoo ^ | February 28, 2023 | Alena Botros

[grundle]

America’s “inability to build things” is crippling it, the economics writer Noah Smith wrote in a blog published on Monday. The “things” he’s referring to are housing, transit, solar power, transmission lines, semiconductor production, you name it. They’re being stalled because of permitting and development rules in particular but the NIMBY (or “not-in-my-backyard”) crew in general. Smith is a well-known economics commentator, but his “bit of a rant” struck a chord with many on Twitter, including its CEO, Elon Musk.

Smith’s blog post, on his personal Substack, stresses that America used to be unwilling to spend on building things, but now it’s worse. We spend money now, he wrote, but that hasn’t equated to more things getting built. The U.S. doesn’t have too much trouble garnering financial capital, but projects and developments are hindered by “local interests who exploit a thicket of veto points to preserve the built environment of the 1970s.”

Smith, who has a doctorate in economics and has taught at Stony Brook University but has mainly written on macroeconomics, with a stint at Bloomberg Opinion among his credits, offered a diagnosis of American decline that struck a chord with the world’s richest man. (Musk himself has a sizable fan base despite his eccentricities, likely because he’s a forward-looking billionaire who promises to escape this sense of stagnation.) Smith identifies the “build-nothing” mentality as a “shadow subsidy” to make up for the fact that real incomes have stagnated since the 1970s, including a few periods when they flatlined. In short, America would rather buy off the current class of homeowners than make any painful economic sacrifices.

[buwaya]

This is absolutely true.
And it is one of those things that will crush the US.
It is one aspect of the general American misgovernance that comes from socio-cultural decline.

[31R1O]

Bump

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Well, since the days of Robert Moses, Americans have good reason to be gun shy. NIMBY works for me. Build your gibs me dats housing projects elsewhere.

Cabrini-Green, anyone?

Whatever the Deep State wants, I'm against it.

[9YearLurker]

Elon’s a front man for dystopia and one of his companies makes resident-tracking modular “tiny houses”.

Beware.

[nathanbedford]

They’re being stalled because of permitting and development rules

When one wants proceed in the face of permitting and development rules one disparages them as rules to enforce NIMBY. But let me suggest another perspective, one that offers me the opportunity to bang on again about growing population.

The population in America has more than doubled, approaching triple the number of Americans, that were here when I was born. To those who say we have an infinite capacity in America and around the world to host unlimited numbers of people, consider why we need all of these "permitting and development rules"?

We need them because we live cheek by jowl with someone who has competing claims for water, air, view, parking space, garbage, exhausts, noise, who might be degrading our property values.

That is why we have zoning laws, that is why we live in gated communities, that is why we have willingly accept intrusive Property Owner Association rules etc.

It is also why it takes about 30 years to build a new runway at the Atlanta airport and why it may never be possible (not that it is desirable) to build a high-speed train in California.

We are at a level of population density where we nead (gasp!) need government to protect us from our neighbors and from the press of population density.

Slogans like NIMBY don't tell us much about the real problem, rather they slide past it.

[irishjuggler]

Let’s face it. In terms of “going big,” this country peaked in the mid-20th century, roughly 1930-1970. Consider the Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Manhattan Project, Apollo moon missions, etc. We’re in decline now, like the Roman Empire in the 3rd or 4th century. Trump offered some glimmer of hope of reversing the downward spiral, and unsurprisingly, he was forced out.

[familyop]

Watch the current economic trends and how they’ll affect real estate. The hard solution in process will become apparent.

[Clutch Martin]

“It is also why it takes about 30 years to build a new runway at the Atlanta airport and why it may never be possible (not that it is desirable) to build a high-speed train in California.”

With all the data as of late coming out on derailments Nationwide, it’s probably safer to fly.

A few weeks ago when the airport software crashed and there was nothing flying on the East Coast it was reminiscence of the week after 9/11 when all flights were canceled. I lived around DC during 9/11 and worked in town and it was pretty darn peaceful without the Jets overhead.

Sadly idyllic and peaceful out the mayhem and terror of the 11th.

[sauropod]

.

[quantim]

“Build your gibs me dats housing projects elsewhere.”

Yes, and not building with MY tax money either. And to keep it running until it is a drug and prostitute haven and then torn down.

[Lumper20]

True. I recall when every shirt I owned was made in the USA and specifically all major brands that all of my friends wore/ liked were from a city in South Carolina. The only other country to enter the US market then was Japan. They had cheap crap we joked about. Sadly our Gov. has sold the US and all of us citizens out.

[rbg81]

It depends what is being proposed. Most suburbanites would oppose anything that would degrade their quality of life or property values. For example, a large, low income housing development in their towns. Or an oil refinery visible from their back yards.

[Nervous Tick]

>> America’s “inability to build things” is crippling it

Bull. The “things” to which they refer are, of course, wind turbines, solar farms, and section 8 subsidized housing for illegal aliens.

NIMBY!!! And proud of it.

[nathanbedford]

I am old enough to remember from my youth the droning almost throbbing sound of four engine Constellations passing overhead before jets became ubiquitous.

[cgbg]

“NIMBY works for me.”

One of the dirty little secrets of New England is that NIMBY and the “save the planet” folks have created a whitopia in exurbia and the rural areas.

As the country drifts into third world status folks do what they have to do....

[Pete Dovgan]

Since Ronald Reagan only one President tried to fix this.

Donald Trump

That alone proves he is pro American and the others are not. These policies are the only way to rebuild the nation, from the inside. The government employees of this United States undermined him and these policies. Everyone needs to grasp that.

[Roccus]

Loved the sound of those Connies as they took off and/or landed at LaGuardia. Spent some time in a hospital in the 50s that was in line with runway 4-22(?). The lights from some of those prop planes would come directly through the windows. One Connie was so low we thought it was gonna come into the ward! lol

Speed’s Sky Writers out of Flushing Airport (5 planes w/radial engines) flying overhead were a fixture in our summers. When their engines were not quite synchronised, we’d remark at the “beat”.

[Roccus]

The first time I remember hearing the term “service economy” used was by Carter. He was telling us that it was what the nation should be gearing up for.
I remember thinking, how are Americans gonna get money to pay for these “services?”

[LouAvul]

We don't need to build more. We need fewer people. Build the wall. Deport all the wetbacks that have flooded in since Brandon took office.

Build federal tent cities like sheriff Joe did, and herd the addicts, alcoholics and deadbeats into the cages. One meal a day. Physical labor. No drugs. They will get clean.

That's a start.