Doubling Down On The Worst Possible Public Policy

I often write about the folly of attempting, through a myriad of government mandates and subsidies, to compel the replacement of our electricity system with one powered by the wind and sun.  You may think it would be impossible to come up with any public policy that is worse than that one of a forced energy system transformation.  And yet, the Manhattan Contrarian designee for “worst possible public policy” has gone to something else.  That something else is the building of what they call “affordable housing” on some of the world’s most expensive real estate here in Manhattan.

The term “affordable housing” as used by housing advocates is a euphemistic term of art that means something different from what you would think.  What it really means is subsidized and income restricted.  

The policies of forced energy transition and of building “affordable housing” in Manhattan share some notable characteristics.  One is that a few simple observations are sufficient to demonstrate that the policy wastes vasts amounts of taxpayer resources while accomplishing essentially nothing and indeed being destructive.  Another is that there is near total consensus among the Manhattan cognoscenti that the policy is a not only good idea but indeed a moral imperative.

If you want to read about the disaster of a government-forced energy transition to generation of power from wind and sun, I can refer you to some hundreds of my prior posts, for example here, here and here.  For today, I will discuss the ongoing disaster of pretending to build “affordable housing” in Manhattan.