Matthew Yglesias

Opinion | America’s Housing Crisis, in One Chart

"per square foot, affordable housing cost more 1.5 times as much to build in California as market-rate housing"

www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/o...

It’s not just total randos either.

I have no problem with Mamdani having a friendly meeting with the president but the people jizzing themselves over the prospect of illiberal horseshoe politics are a big problem.

🙄🙄🙄

I do not see any major sources disputing this but if anyone on here has contrary information, I’d be interested in hearing about it.

Intellectual disability more common among men than women

now.aapmr.org/intellectual...

I would say the left went too far left and the right became excessively corrupt and authoritarian, while moderating a bit on some key policy issues

Almost certainly not! How does that contradict what I said?

I’m sure the author of this recent Jacobin piece would hate my political views, but it’s a good celebratory overview of the rise of left-of-liberal ideas.

jacobin.com/2025/11/neol...

I know all the political scientists on BlueSky are committed to hating on me, but I didn’t think it would be controversial to observe that a lot of left-of-liberalism political ideas have gained traction over the past ten years.

Of course in the US “liberal” is often used as a synonym for left-wing or progressive, but I’m sure you’re familiar with the usage that would distinguish between liberalism and non-liberal left political ideas like socialism.

It’s a regular School of Pericles on the right

EPA just approved new ‘forever chemical’ pesticides for use on food Critics warn the EPA’s approvals of new PFAS pesticides could expose more Americans to “forever chemicals” through their food.

The *only* part of MAHA that has any juice is the antivax stuff.

The parts where less toxic chemicals get dumped into food, air, and water is inconvenient to donors Trump cares about.

www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...

this is your brain when your entire politics is just a set of aesthetics

Incredible work by Nevada Dems on “organizing”

Believe me, I realize!

I think this might be the best solution to public demand for lower prices, but maybe just do one zero instead of three

this is the core of my Starmer/Labour complaint -- not what's analogous to the US but what isn't

the UK is a country in truly dire straits, an economy that has barely grown for 20 years

Labour needed to take drastic action and they had five years of runway to see it take root

but, instead,,,

Mark Carney seems like he's doing well, especially given that up north the electoral geography disadvantages the right

canadianpolling.substack.com/p/another-sl...

As far as you know

The “strange new respect” for Marjorie Taylor Greene Plus Bidenflation, private equity, and the shoddy world-building of Harry Potter

I’m for tactical collaboration with anyone on anything but it’s worth remembering that Marjorie Taylor Greene is still a nutjob antisemite

www.slowboring.com/p/the-strang...

Guy who loves the Trump movement except for the conspiracy theories, bigotry, and anti-vax morons

Philanthropy Needs to Pick a Side on the Housing Construction Debate Despite California’s severe housing shortage, foundations are still funding on the wrong side of the housing fight there, guest author Ned Resnikoff writes.

Foundations should stop funding groups that advance harmful housing policies.

These left-NIMBY nonprofits dwarf the YIMBY movement w/r/t funding and paid staff.

Great piece from @resnikoff.bsky.social!

www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/philant...

Incredible @titonka.bsky.social reaction shot to this bullshit

But what's the average price of electricity in Australia?

What's the complete sentence, though?

"Ideological moderation is overrated, but politicians who set interest group agendas aside to pursue general economic well-being will appeal to swing voters."

This is utility costs as a share of household consumption (note NOT income) by decile — cheap electricity and home heat is a really big deal for poorer families.

Probably??? I don't know that we really know, though. The Great Inflation of the 1970s ended with a brutal (albeit brief) recession so we don't have much basis to know about adaptation.

In theory of course people *could* respond by raising families in cheap tiny-by-modern-standards 1950s-style homes and spend the savings on diamonds or Super Bowl tickets or whatever, but in practice most people don't make those kind of choices.

If you YIMBIfied the whole country:

— Average home size rises
— Faster household formation
— Slightly higher birthrates
— Rich people own more vacation houses
— Larger population share in high-amenity locations
— Higher wages & productivity

People would still spend a lot on housing though.

My take on this is that left-yimby discourse is weaker than it should be because of the broader cultural influence of degrowth concepts, but the main benefit of YIMBY policies is that most people get richer on average not that you hit some quasi-objective "affordability" standard.