Introduction

The economics of Housing & Homelessness

Today's outline

  • Introductions
  • Conversation about Readings
  • Course Overview

Introductions

Why this course?

Economics is the study of Relationships that

Shape / Influence/ Make up / Determine

the broader Economy

The Relationships Surrounding Housing & Homelessness are of Fundamental

Importance

April 24, 2023  -- LA Times

Why Housing (Broadly Defined) Now

Why Homelessness?

Preventable with (moderate) resources?

Related Topics

Econometrics

Poverty

Ethnography

Investing

Public

Health

Addiction

Family

Law

Public Saftey

Insurance

Language

Models

Economic Research

"What is so profound is we’re starting to get a sense of what it could be about a place that makes a difference for economic mobility"

"It is amazing the amount of money spent by 'economists' to decide on something that high school common sense tells you.What a borderline useless profession."

A Divergence of Opinions

On Homeless & Housing Projects

Interesting & Important Questions 

Interesting Questions We Can Credibly Answer

Research

Credible

Important

Choice Set

Research is important, but it's only a part of it

On the Relationship with Medicine

Medicine

Providing medicine might improve the well being of those around the patient

Spillover Effects

Economics

Providing a low-income individual with a housing voucher might make it harder for another low-income individual to secure housing (Musical Chairs)

Incentives

Tenant might work less

Landlords might increase rental price

Spillover Effects

"In 1903 economist Richard Hurd became the first person to compute formulas for this equation. He assumed that the speedier service of the electronic streetcar was saving the average rider fifteen minutes in each direction, thus making possible a journey of three more miles in the same time span. In 1903 dollars, his estimate of the increased values within the three-mil zone of a semi-circular city like Chicago was $456 millon. Hurd's precise calculation are unimportant, but he raised to a science what transit entrepreneurs already knew and what the public was beginning to learn."

On the Ground Experience

Economist

General Public

Flow of Information

Course Logistics

  • Daily readings
  • Four coding problem sets
  • A series of writing assignments
  • A final research paper

Course Work

Course Expectations

  • Class attendance & daily readings
  • Limited Laptop use

Philosophy

  • What might happen to the Housing Market if Fannie Mae could operate in a secondary market of  Construction Loans?

AiMs

  • Learn more about yourself
  • Learn more about housing and homeless
  • Become a better technical writer
  • Become better reader of the newspaper (listener of podcasts) 

FOcus

  • Learn to think, write and conduction research as an Economist

〞

Never Let Homework Get In the Way of Your Education

Readings

Million-Dollar Murray

Million-Dollar Murray