Housing, mobility, and the thwarting of economic opportunity: A conversation with Yoni Appelbaum and Jerusalem Demsas

On March 11, BESI welcomed Yoni Appelbaum and Jerusalem Demsas for a highly anticipated conversation on America’s housing crisis and the decline of mobility in this country.

Appelbaum and Demsas, both journalists at The Atlantic, have recently offered long-form critiques on the topic. In his book, Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity, Appelbaum links geographic mobility to economic mobility. To secure opportunity, Appelbaum observes, people need to be able to able move where they need to move, and the current rental and housing markets don’t allow that.

Demsas’ book, On the Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy, reveals how localism and provincialism in otherwise-progressive blue states — a phenomenon otherwise known as “NIMBYism” — exacerbates the housing crisis. She argues that the housing crisis is a regional issue that requires intervention at the state level.

Moderated by BESI director Paul Pierson, this conversation, recorded at Berkeley Hillel on March 11, reveals the surprising political origins of America’s housing crisis and how the loss of freedom of movement thwarts efforts to secure economic welfare for all.