Jane Jacobs’ writings span several disciplines—including ethics and most especially economics—but she is best known for her contributions to and her critique of urban planning, design, and policy. Many of those whom she influenced in academia, policy, and activism took the occasion of her … [Read more...]
The Other Broken Window
My first article for TheFreemanOnline dealt with the “broken window fallacy.” But in the literature on social theory, there’s actually another important idea that also uses the metaphor of a “broken window.”In his comment on The Freeman’s Facebook page, Flavio Ortigao raised this point when he … [Read more...]
The Future Once Happened Here: New York, D.C., L.A., and the Fate of America’s Big Cities
There are many ways to tell the story of urban-policy failure. Economists have shown how rent control creates housing shortages, sociologists how welfare programs destroy poor communities, and urbanologists how urban planning can debilitate cities. In his book The Future Once Happened Here, … [Read more...]
Of Maps and Modernism
This year, for the first time since 1979, New York City has revamped its subway map. A quick glance shows a change in the background tinge from light tan to light green – most pleasant. To my relief, however, on closer inspection nothing essential has changed from the last version. Thank goodness … [Read more...]
Addressing Local Knowledge
Four years ago my wife and I decided to take our son to a special and slightly unusual restaurant to celebrate his birthday. We were in Tokyo at the time and gave the taxi driver what we thought was the address for the restaurant – it had names and numbers on it. Cabbies in Tokyo, and in Japan in … [Read more...]
Governing The Traffic Commons
As an economics professor, I often witness the surprise of my students when I explain how something as important as the market for food or clothing is self-regulating. True, there are quality and safety regulations that attempt to control potential hazards “around the edges” of these vital markets, … [Read more...]
The Rural Libertarian As A Historical Anomaly
People in the American Midwest are said to be on average more conservative and more libertarian than people who live on the East and West Coasts. And that in turn is because people in rural areas are said to be more strongly tied to the traditions of individualism and self-reliance than those in big … [Read more...]
Are “Charter Cities” a Solution?
Stanford economist Paul Romer has proposed an intriguing concept: the “charter city.” A charter city is a newly created city governed by a country other than the one within whose borders it exists. Its residents would remain citizens of the home country.Romer offers Hong Kong as an example when … [Read more...]