All of Hersh's Comments + Replies

Eli Dourado AMA
Hersh1y1

Individuals don’t have standing to sue when NEPA holds up their projects for years?

Reply
1elidourado1yThe NEPA lawsuit is brought by an environmental org against an agency. I could be wrong but I don't think a different party can appeal the decision.
Eli Dourado AMA
Hersh1y2

But there are organizations that bring cases as a public good and they pay for the litigation. On the left, ACLU. For libertarians, the Institute for Justice (IJ). IJ identifies laws or regulations they want to dispute and then find a sympathetic plaintiff to represent. Someone like you would probably do a lot of good by convincing IJ to find some NEPA cases to bring.

Reply
1elidourado1yThe party of record is a federal agency, though. I'm not sure IJ can defend them.
Eli Dourado AMA
Hersh1y1

  1. Why do you believe that deregulating housing will increase productivity (TFP)?

  2. In theory, could you build a lobbying super-army against NEPA, housing regulation, etc. a la big oil?

  3. Given that the US now sucks at building public transit, would deregulating housing be a disaster? It’s hard to fit on NYC trains as it is.

  4. Is the price of solar truly going down, or does it just seem that way because the gov is paying for it via incentives and waivers?

  5. If you could have your pick of any federal agency to run for four years, which one would you choose?

Reply
2elidourado1y1. Housing is, depending on the year, 15-18% of GDP, and if we could get that for free, it would tautologically increase productivity. Also, high housing costs limit agglomeration effects by pricing some people out of the most productive markets. There are a bunch of other negative effects of high housing prices. I'd refer you to "the housing theory of everything" for a discussion. 2. I think the "lobbying super-army" we need is elite consensus. If we convinced all the smart people that vetocracy is a bad way to achieve environmental goals, that would basically do it. 3. If we deregulated housing, people in general would not have to commute as far! But yes, transit construction in the US is often a mess. 4. The price of solar is truly going down. It's not just because incentives are offsetting the cost. However, I do think it is an open question how far the costs can keep falling. 5. Department level? Department of Energy. Agency level? FAA.