ethan ✨

FYI for those that are jumping ship, I'm on the other place too:

Low density suburbs in growing cities often face a problem - as property values rise and older homes are replaced with larger new ones, they become steadily less affordable. But as this paper from the US shows, thoughtful zoning reforms can change this story. 🧵

Awesome paper finding huge benefits from relaxing zoning constraints in NYC, even once you account for the big costs of redevelopment vrollet.github.io/files/city_str…

Get your tickets now folks 👇

The cost discrepancy between community and public housing, caused by the inconsistent application of GST, is a significant reason why we're seeing public housing builds decrease as a portion of our social housing stock.

Yes. Writing is not a second thing that happens after thinking. The act of writing is an act of thinking. Writing *is* thinking. Students, academics, and anyone else who outsources their writing to LLMs will find their screens full of words and their minds emptied of thought.

This 3-part podcast series on New Zealand's housing crisis is a must-listen for the housing policy wonks. Australia's story is slightly different, but the core ideas and themes remain the same.👇

Somewhat related, I have always thought ‘skills shortages’ were a strange concept for this reason. At least w something like housing we can point to an objective benchmark like price > marginal cost.

Rentseeker of the week:

Interested in politics, power and getting things built? Watch this from someone whose worked with two premiers and ministers behind the scenes. #springst

Progress shouldn’t be rationed - abundance should be the goal. In the inaugural edition of “Inflection Points”, I outline a vision for an Australia with more homes, faster trains, and sensational universities: inflectionpoints.work/articles/the-a… #auspol @inflectionptswk

Fantastic news. Australia should absolutely follow these reforms. There's no reason to restrict the right to vote based on a random age limit.

Unfortunately if we think rent assistance goes straight into the pockets of landlords (the research does not show that as CRA doesn’t go to landlords but can b spent on anything) that likely also means we shouldn’t increase JobSeeker as that will also get absorbed by landlords.

Jordan Peterson is leaving Toronto. The best-selling author and commentator is selling his Seaton Village home and moving to Arizona to be closer to his daughter and her family. Take a look inside the $2.268M home👇 nationalpost.com/news/canada/jo…

Children who move to better neighbourhoods are more likely to go to university, earn more, and stay out of poverty. So why do urban planning policies in wealthy areas resist new families?

Fantastic design on this new Australian magazine: absolutely love it. Also love their mission as described by their about page. I will be subscribing and following them!

In 2022, no one thought, talked or uttered the words “non-compete clauses”. In 2025, non-compete clauses were front and centre at the Federal Budget. Here’s how it happened.

[Blog] Did you know that 1920s church preachings still influence Melbourne's train and tram timetables? Learn how and why as I discuss the power plays of churches, unions and governments that shape our transport services today. melbourneontransit.blogspot.com/2025/07/tt-208… #springst

They can't help but lie about us 💅 x.com/pia_planning/s…

Land use policies like character / heritage protections act as constraints on urban land supply (in the vertical + horizontal dimension), creating an artificial scarcity that drives prices higher. This is not complicated and it's weird how many people pretend otherwise