In our first podcast of 2018, we look at one of the most critical areas in public policy – housing. The Institute of Economic Affairs’s Kristian Niemietz and former Head of Research at the Adam Smith Institute Ben Southwood discuss the housing shortage, its supply-side nature and the politics which underpin it. Interviewed by the IEA’s Kate Andrews, the pair examine the historical origins of the housing crisis, which date back to legislation introduced under Clement Attlee’s government in the 1940s. They also look at the well-organised NIMBY movement (short for “Not In My Back Yard”), and its influence on government policy.
