Build, Bryan, Build!

Prolific former EconLog blogger Bryan Caplan will soon publish his latest “graphic novel” titled Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation.

He asked me to post about it and I told him that I would if I could see the contents. So Bryan sent me a pre-pub version.

It’s fantastic! I hate calling it a graphic novel, because it’s not a novel: it’s more a compelling documentary in graphic form.

Bryan points out that we can explain high housing prices by looking at increases in demand without concomitant increases in supply. But why aren’t there increases in supply? The main reason: regulation. Other economists have made this point and I’ve made it in a number of book reviews and talks over the years. But the graphic way of expressing it is so effective.

At least it’s effective with the right “grapher.” And the combination of economist Bryan Caplan’s zinging words and artist Ady Branzei’s great artwork is a winner.

Here’s one excerpt:

I can imagine teachers in high school and even middle school classes using these and turning their students on to two things: (1) economics and (2) good deregulatory housing policy.