White Papers

California suffers from an affordability crisis. Our white paper series explores the drivers of unaffordability in California and presents policy reforms to make the state more affordable. Policy failures are generally rooted in political failures, so we also propose upstream political and governance reforms to help affordability-enhancing measures take hold and endure.

California, with its progressive tax system and dynamic economy, has some of the highest levels of per-capita government spending in the country. But state programs systematically suffer from fragmentation and complexity. Part 4 of our white paper series argues that, to make the state more affordable, we need to streamline and simplify public programs to more effectively help residents cope with high costs.

To address its unaffordability problem, California must reform regressive regulations. Time and time again the state has pursued progressive goals through policies that raise the cost of essentials — hitting low-income residents hardest. This regressively funded progressivism is a major driver of California's high cost of living. Part 3 of our white paper series explores how these costly and often ineffective regulations work and offers a path toward durable reform.

The primary driver of California’s unaffordability and poverty is our high cost of living. And the foremost driver of high costs in California is a policy regime that makes it difficult to build the physical infrastructure we need to deliver essentials, particularly housing. Part 2 of our white paper series on making California more affordable explains the origins of growth restrictions in California, explores the implications of those restrictions, analyzes the politics of pro-growth policies, and offers a path forward to achieve sustainable growth.

California is less affordable and poorer than it should be given the strength of our economy. Part 1 of our white paper series on making California more affordable presents the basic facts on California’s unaffordability problem. Most strikingly, California’s high costs and insufficient incomes give California the highest poverty rate in the country when accounting for cost of living.

Read BESI director Paul Pierson’s introduction to our four-part white paper series on addressing California’s affordability problem.