Zoning that restricts housing construction also dampens other economic development

Zoning restrictions are making the construction of housing more difficult, and that is driving up the cost of housing in many cities.

What’s more, that effect is having an impact beyond the construction industry, according to a study by two economists, Chang-Tai Hsieh of the University of Chicago and Enrico Moretti of the University of California at Berkeley. They estimate that zoning restrictions reduced U.S. GDP as a whole by 9% percent a year, or roughly $1.5 trillion a year.