Most fast food workers in California would get a $20 minimum wage next year — a nearly $5 per hour raise — under a deal announced Monday between labor unions and the industry that will avoid a costly referendum on the November 2024 ballot.
While I support on principle the rights of lower levels of government to do what they think is best, I will admit that in practice this often leads to outcomes that are frustrating and disappointing enough that I think we probably need some limits on that power.
Ultimately, local regulation of land use is a pretty classical Prisoner’s Dilemma; by all local communities optimizing for their own blinded utility, they’re creating a net worse situation for everyone involved, including themselves. It’s really the textbook example of a case where a higher authority like a state government needs to come in and force everyone to actually collaborate.
If every community increases housing supply by a little bit, the effect on the local “character” is nearly unnoticeable but the housing market stays healthy. If they all refuse, the market melts down and we get the mess we have now (and parents have the comical audacity to then complain about how their kids can’t afford to live in the same area).
While I support on principle the rights of lower levels of government to do what they think is best, I will admit that in practice this often leads to outcomes that are frustrating and disappointing enough that I think we probably need some limits on that power.
Ultimately, local regulation of land use is a pretty classical Prisoner’s Dilemma; by all local communities optimizing for their own blinded utility, they’re creating a net worse situation for everyone involved, including themselves. It’s really the textbook example of a case where a higher authority like a state government needs to come in and force everyone to actually collaborate.
If every community increases housing supply by a little bit, the effect on the local “character” is nearly unnoticeable but the housing market stays healthy. If they all refuse, the market melts down and we get the mess we have now (and parents have the comical audacity to then complain about how their kids can’t afford to live in the same area).