“Today’s urban rentiers have more to gain from increasing the scarcity of usable land than from maximizing its productive and economically beneficial uses,” writes Florida, also noting that over a 50-year period, over half of New York City’s economic output was consumed by artificially high housing costs, to the benefit of what Adam Smith might have called “indolent” landlords (themselves often corporations, REITs and other wealth funds).
National Post: The important lessons: Why NIMBYism and rent-seeking behaviour poses a special challenge to cities
