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Joshua Specht – Property Values

    The Rise and Fall of the American Homeowner

    Princeton Up Ideas Podcast | 21 September 2026 | 1h 1m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify

    Interview with Joshua Specht about his book Property Values: The Rise and Fall of the American Homeowner. traces how land ownership became central to American independence, shifting from widespread prosperity to property appreciation. Discusses colonial land speculation, Native American displacement, and the frontier’s closing. Explores Henry George’s critique of land monopoly and visions from Bryan and Addams. The New Deal’s mortgage reforms created an “ownership society”, yet propagated exclusion through redlining and tax limitations like Proposition 13. Homeowners’ associations privatised governance. The 2008 financial crisis exposed financialisation flaws, where individual blame obscured systemic issues. Advocates for regional housing policies and greater density.

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    Arpit Gupta – Ideas for a Post YIMBY Future

      The New Bazaar | 25 March 2026 | 1h 09m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
      Interview with Arpit Gupta, drawing from his Substack Arpitrage. Explores how remote work boosts startup productivity while challenging established firms, potentially narrowing regional economic gaps. Analyzes the urban doom loop and proposes housing solutions like office-to-residential conversions, property tax reforms for young buyers, and an industrial policy for factory-built homes to fix stagnant construction productivity. Warns AI may dull the mind if used as a crutch, but believes it can transform finance and healthcare if humans prioritize cognitive discipline and high-level interpretation.

      Alain Bertaud on What Planners Control – and What They Don’t

        The New Zealand Initiative | 20 March 2026 | 1h 06m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
        Interview with Alain Bertaud discussing why cities are labour markets first and infrastructure projects second; what happens when planners try to control things they cannot predict; why monitoring land prices may be the single most important thing a planning department can do; how to make sure infrastructure investment and delivery serves the spontaneous order rather than the other way around; and how to finance and deliver infrastructure under genuine uncertainty, in a system that lets cities grow flexibly. Draws from his book Order Without Design: How Markets Shape Cities.

        See also other episodes with Alain Bertaud.

        Brendan Coates: Ending the Bans on Housing

          The Inflection Points Podcast | 14 December 2025 | 1h 48m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
          Interview with Brendan Coates about his report More Homes, Better Cities: Letting More People Live Where They Want, co-authored with Joey Moloney and Matthew Bowes. Argues that the root cause of the Australian housing crisis isn’t immigration, tax settings, or banking – it’s that planning systems say no by default. Backgrounds that 80% of residential land near Sydney’s CBD is restricted to three stories or less, and how removing these bans could unlock hundreds of thousands of new homes. Explains why gentle density – allowing three-story townhouses as-of-right – is the key to affordability, better streetscapes, and economic productivity.

          Edward Berenson on Perfect Communities: Levitt, Levittown, and the Dream of White Suburbia

            New Books in Economics | 13 August 2025 | 1h 02m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
            Interview with Edward Berenson about his book Perfect Communities: Levitt, Levittown, and the Dream of White Suburbia. Describes the rise and fall of William J. Levitt, who innovated to produce inexpensive mass-produced single-family suburban housing for veterans returned from WW2. Discusses his refusal to sell to Black people, contributing to the enduring wealth disparity between white and Black families.

            Jerusalem Demsas On the Housing Crisis

              KQED’s Forum | 16 September 2024 | 0h 57m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
              Interview with Jerusalem Demsas about her essay collection On the Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy. Argues that the housing crisis is caused by decision-making at the hyper-local level in a tangle of zoning boards, historical preservation committees and sparsely attended meetings, “where no one is watching and no one is accountable.”

              Creating Abundance ft. Derek Thompson

                The New Liberal Podcast | 18 March 2025 | 1h 00m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
                Interview with Derek Thompson about his book Abundance, co-authored with Ezra Klein. Discusses the policies and the politics involved in abundance, how to spark more innovation in the economy, and why we desperately need the abundance movement.

                I’m well through this book now. It has an important message for the Anglo world.

                Bryan Caplan on Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing

                  New Books in Economics | 18 March 2025 | 0h 39m | Listen Later | Podcasts | Spotify
                  Interview with Bryan Caplan about his book Build Baby Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation. Explains how well-intentioned but ill-considered regulation has driven up the cost of housing and ‘manufactured scarcity.’ Touches on other areas where free-market principles conflict with government interventions: bike lanes, environmental policy, immigration, and public education, especially at taxpayer-supported universities.

                  See also other interviews with Bryan Caplan.