An actual economist contextualizing housing prices within larger asset prices. Doesn’t seem to know what “yimby” or “nimby” even is, but he shows the “just build more” mantra is naive & parochial youtu.be/BTlUyS-T-_4?...
Replies
Why did California have such a hard time with housing prices pre COVID? We just had an asset problem before everyone else?
jul 21, 2025, 9:47 pm • 0 0 • view
Did you watch the whole video?
jul 21, 2025, 9:50 pm • 0 0 • view
I have now watched the whole thing. I'm dumber for it. That was very bad. He didn't present one bit of data the entire time. It was just rambling, completely unsubstantiated, opinion piece and he's clearly a nimby degrowther. I did get a laugh of him counting the cranes tho,
jul 21, 2025, 10:26 pm • 0 0 • view
He’s neither a nimby nor a degroather, he’s not even a socialist
jul 21, 2025, 10:35 pm • 1 0 • view
He's anti growth in that video and digs into a lot of nimby tropes about neighborhood character and apartments looming over single family houses. I still can't believe he counted cranes. Wouldn't an economist be embarrassed about such simplistic anecdotal evidence?
jul 21, 2025, 10:39 pm • 0 0 • view
Ahh, so you didn’t pay attention. Seemed clear but it’s good for confirmation
jul 21, 2025, 10:47 pm • 0 0 • view
What would I pay attention to? He didn't make any argument, he didn't provide any data. I've read an enormous amount of pieces on the housing shortage. You can't just hand wave it away by counting cranes. How are people won over by such flimsy arguments?
jul 21, 2025, 10:51 pm • 0 0 • view
This guy’s videos are specifically intended to simplify ideas for widespread dissemination amongst the broader population. He’s a multi-millionaire former professional trader whose become concerned with growing wealth inequality
jul 21, 2025, 10:54 pm • 0 0 • view
But if you hadn’t known that, and if you’d been paying attention - and I’m going merely from memory so that speaks to our different comprehension levels - in that section he even made a passing jab at yimbys who don’t want certain kinds of housing built in their own neighborhoods
jul 21, 2025, 10:55 pm • 0 0 • view
What yimby doesn't want "certain kinds of housing built in their neighborhood"? It's literally means yes in my neighborhood.
jul 21, 2025, 11:56 pm • 0 0 • view
Did I roll my eyes a bit when he said the bit about “blocking the sun?” I did. But then, he was talking there about the quality of housing stock that would be available for ppl in already poor neighborhoods as they increasingly become slums
jul 21, 2025, 10:56 pm • 0 0 • view
OMG he's know counting cranes outside of his building to prove that England is building more housing. Is he really an economist? "We are building" No, they are not.
jul 21, 2025, 10:10 pm • 0 0 • view
I like when he tells me that Tokyo has a horrible affordability problem is in housing.
jul 21, 2025, 10:08 pm • 1 0 • view
Yeah, very weird that he doesn't even pretend to offer data on this opening claim that it's a problem everywhere (a claim that also happens to be false). Still watching and hoping the rest is better...
jul 21, 2025, 11:20 pm • 2 0 • view
14 minutes in and he still hasn't presented any actual evidence, just broad generalizations, some of which seem plausible and some of which (imo) don't. I'm not sure what kind of economist he's supposed to be.
jul 21, 2025, 11:29 pm • 1 0 • view
Oh... yeah, the crane counting seems fatal to his whole argument. That was a chance to bring up data that might have been helpful, and he just... didn't?
jul 21, 2025, 11:37 pm • 2 0 • view
By the end it got even worse because he clearly hasn't engaged with any of the research. He seems to have never even heard of filtering. Even worse than typical NIMBY arguments because he just isn't making any real arguments that I can discern. And I agree about taxing wealth!
jul 22, 2025, 12:04 am • 1 0 • view
Thanks for confirming. I went to his youtube page where there's tons of people loving his argument and I thought I was crazy...because he never got around to even supporting it. His support is just entirely built on his authority. Which is questionable www.ft.com/content/7e8b...
jul 22, 2025, 12:07 am • 1 0 • view
I'm 15 minutes in now, and he just told me that housing was affordable only in this time after WW2, which is...not true.
jul 21, 2025, 10:07 pm • 0 0 • view
Being a multi millionaire is a disqualifier actually. Indeed he never provides data or sources. He is a popular commentator.
jul 22, 2025, 12:11 am • 1 0 • view
IIRC, in some earlier video Gary argued that a huge issue is the (ultra)rich are outgrowing the economy. Building more absolutely won't fix everything, but not building more makes things much worse.
jul 22, 2025, 10:03 am • 0 0 • view