One of the best ways to understand policy debates happening
in your own country can be to talk to people in other places.
After all, if the same problem exists in both Germany and Tanzania,
it can help eliminate explanations that rest on the specific languages,
cultures, or practices of either country.
The housing crisis is like this.
There's a lot that's important about the specifics of America's history,
culture, and institutions in understanding our housing crisis.
But other countries have experienced housing crises too.
How they have chosen to address them can help us understand how we should act as well.
Today's episode is going to take us to the other side of the world.
New Zealand, a country whose housing crisis rivals our own or even outpaces it.
In 2019, according to one international comparison of eight wealthy Anglophone countries,
New Zealand was the country with the second least affordable housing.
The US Was eighth.
And similarly to the United States, New Zealand is heavily suburbanized.
In fact, more than 80% of residents live in detached single family homes,
20 percentage points higher than the U.S.
and again, similarly to the U.S.
zoning and land use regulations are choking the supply of new housing.