Land use reform
Local laws often prohibit the construction of dense new housing, which drives up prices, especially in a few large high-wage urban areas. The increased prices transfer wealth from renters to landowners and push people away from centers of economic activity, which reduces their ability to get jobs or earn higher wages, likely by a very large amount.
The direct beneficiaries of progress on this problem would mostly be middle-class people in developed countries – not the most needy of groups globally. However, if you believe economic growth, wage increases and technological advancement in developed countries are valuable goals, this is one of the more promising policy changes for raising productivity.
An opportunity to tackle the problem is to start or join a nonprofit or lobbying body to advocate for more housing construction in key urban areas and states. For example, the YIMBY Party and More New York are grassroots lobbying groups that advocate for changes to zoning regulations in San Francisco and New York City respectively. Another option would be to try to shift zoning decisions from local to state governments, where they are less likely to be determined by narrow local interests, especially existing land-owners who benefit from higher property prices.
