Josh Ryan-Collins Bücher

"Congress is a bicameral legislature in which both the House and Senate must pass a bill before it can be enacted into law. The US bicameral system also differs from most democracies in that the two chambers have relatively equal power to legislate and must find ways to resolve their disputes. In the current landscape of party polarization, this contentious process has become far more chaotic, leading to the public perception that the House and Senate are unwilling or unable to compromise and calling into question the effectiveness of the bicameral system itself. [This book shows] how the bicameral legislative process works in Congress and shows that the types of policy outcomes it produces are in line with those intended by the framers of the Constitution. Although each bargaining outcome may seem idiosyncratic, the product of strong leadership and personality politics, interchamber bargaining outcomes in Congress are actually structured by observable institutional factors. [The author] finds that the characteristics of the winning coalition are critically important to which chamber 'wins' after bargaining, with both conference committees and an alternative resolution venue, amendment trading, creating policy that approximates the preferences of the more moderate chamber. Although slow and incremental, interchamber negotiations serve their intended purpose well, [this book] shows; they increase the odds of compromise while at the same time offering a powerful constraint on dramatic policy changes."-- Provided by publisher

Throughout the Western world, a whole generation is being priced out of the housing market. For millions of people, particularly millennials, the basic goal of acquiring decent, affordable accommodation is a distant dream. Leading economist Josh Ryan-Collins argues that to understand this crisis, we must examine a crucial paradox at the heart of modern capitalism. The interaction of private home ownership and a lightly regulated commercial banking system leads to a feedback cycle. Unlimited credit and money flows into an inherently finite supply of property, which causes rising house prices, declining home ownership, rising inequality and debt, stagnant growth and financial instability. Radical reforms are needed to break the cycle. This engaging and topical book will be essential reading for anyone who wants to understand why they can’t find an affordable home, and what we can do about it.

Acknowledgments List of Acronyms List of Figures List of Explanatory Boxes Glossary of Terms 1. Introduction 2. Land Ownership and Property 3. The Missing Factor: Land in Production and Distribution 4. Land for Housing: Land Economics in the Modern Era 5. The Financialisation of Land and Housing 6. Land, Wealth and Inequality 7. Putting Land Back in to Economics and Policy Notes Bibliography Index