Build, Baby, Build - by Bryan Caplan (Paperback)

About the Book

Combining visually stunning graphics and careful interdisciplinary research, Build, Baby, Build, takes readers on a journey through what is wrong with the housing market--and what we can do about it.

Book Synopsis

In this exciting new graphic novel, economist Bryan Caplan examines how changes to housing regulation can lead us to a vastly better world.

Why are housing prices in America so unbelievably high, especially in the country's most desirable locations? The superficial answer is "supply and demand," but the deep answer―the reason supply is so low―is a regulatory system that treats developers like criminals.

In Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation, economist Bryan Caplan makes the economic and philosophical case for radical deregulation of this massive market―freeing property owners to build as tall and dense as they wish. Not only would the average price of housing be cut in half, but the building boom unleashed by deregulation would simultaneously reduce inequality, increase social mobility, promote economic growth, reduce homelessness, increase birth rates, help the environment, cut crime, and more.

Combining stunning homage to classic animation with careful interdisciplinary research, Build, Baby, Build takes readers on a grand tour of a bona fide "panacea policy." We can start realizing these missed opportunities as soon as we abandon the widespread misconception that housing regulation solves more problems than it causes.

Review Quotes

"The issue of building more is too important to be left for dry monographs. Fortunately, Bryan Caplan is on the case with another in his string of original, brilliant, and important books that is also readable and engaging. After my son read Open Borders, he asked me for recommendations of other graphic novels that were just as educational, insightful, and engaging. I finally have a second book to recommend to him."--Jason Furman, former chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and Professor, Harvard University

"Bryan Caplan is a pioneer in the use of graphic novels to expound economic concepts. His new book Build, Baby, Build is thus a landmark in economic education, how to present economic ideas, and the integration of economic analysis and graphic visuals. If you want to learn the economics, ethics, and political economy of YIMBY-- namely the freedom to build this is the very best place to start."--Tyler Cowen, Holbert L. Harris Chair of Economics at George Mason University and founder of Marginal Revolution

"Bryan Caplan and Ady Branzei have written a fantastically accessible and fantastically fun book explaining why housing is so expensive in the U.S. It is full of insight and sound economic reasoning. I can think of no better book to read for an introduction to understanding why land-use regulations have caused so much damage. It is a perfect book for your 17-year-old daughter or your 70-year-old uncle, for intro econ students or Nobel laureates, and for everyone in between."--Ed Glaeser, Fred and Eleanor Glimp Professor of Economics and chairman of the Department of Economics, Harvard University

"Fabulous! Housing deregulation is an issue in which the libertarians have been changing the minds of the liberals (whether or not they admit it), as we see in liberal YIMBYism. This is the book where you can find the arguments advanced, both rigorously and entertainingly."--Steven Pinker, author of Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progress

About the Author

Bryan Caplan is a professor of economics at George Mason University. His major fields of interest are public choice, public finance, and monetary economics. He is the author of several books including The Myth of the Rational Voter and Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration (coauthored with Zach Weinersmith). Caplan is the editor and chief writer for Bet On It, a blog hosted by the Salem Center for Policy at the University of Texas. His writing has been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, TIME, Newsweek, and the Atlantic.

Ady Branzei is a visual artist with experience in drawing, painting, and 3D animation. Previously a professor of fine arts at the George Enescu National Academy of Arts in Romania. Branzei has also participated in many art exhibitions. Working under the name Sebastian Soric, Branzei has most recently been focusing on graphic novels and other illustrated books.