## The Law of Artificial Scarcity

If the price of cars skyrockets, Ford builds more cars. If the price of corn goes up, farmers plant more corn. Supply eventually meets demand, bringing prices back down. But this foundational law of capitalism does not apply to housing in major American cities.

### FAQ

**Q: Why do 1,200 sq-ft shacks in San Jose cost $1.5 Million?**
A: Single-Family Zoning. In cities like San Jose or Seattle, massive tech companies create tens of thousands of six-figure jobs every year. Naturally, developers want to build high-rise apartments to house them. But they legally cannot. Existing incumbent homeowners ("NIMBYs" - Not In My Backyard) dominate local city councils and pass restrictive zoning laws making it a criminal offense to build anything other than a detached single-family home on 75% of the city's land. By using the sheer force of government law to permanently cap housing supply while demand skyrockets, the incumbent homeowners artificially force massive bidding wars. Their property values surge by millions of dollars—not because they improved their house, but through the legal monopolization of the land.