Dwarkesh Patel recently interviewed Edward Glaeser, a Harvard economist with a research interest in cities. The podcast website with transcript can be found here.

Harvard University, Image credit: wikicommons

TLDL inisghts:

• house prices show momentum yoy, and mean reversion over 5y periods
• Georgism incentivizes development more than tax assessed on land and improvement, but it is would not earn enough to pay for public services. Glaeser is surprised to be asked by Patel about this radical idea from the progressive (1890) era.
• city depopulation (e.g., Detroit from 1960 onwards) is slow. It is a process that lasts decades
• education/social capital drives up land value
• low social capital has been compounded by high non-employment rate of working-age males and opioid crisis
• land use restrictions and nymbiism cause high prices, Glaeser was interested in Houston TX.
• Boston and SF compete with the rest of US similarly to how northern European Social Democracies compete with US: they are less business friendly but compensate with better education.
• cities are there to stay as people want to meet others in real. Good prospects for sunbelt cities: Austin, Charlotte, Atlanta