Böcker av Brian Phillips

Few people deny that America has a severe shortage of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income households. While there is agreement that a problem exists, there is little agreement about a remedy. Government officials at every level, along with housing advocates, frequently put forth a variety of policy proposals in an attempt to address the problem. For more than a century, government officials have created an assortment of programs and policies in an attempt to provide Americans with safe, decent, and affordable housing. The fact that today the affordable housing problem is worse than ever is testament that these programs and policies have failed. Despite this failure, we are routinely subjected to new policy proposals that are simply a variation on the same theme. The reason for this continued failure is the framework that has been employed since the beginning of the twentieth century. That manner of thinking led to numerous policies that exacerbated a modest housing problem. And the continued application of that framework has steadily made the problem worse. The affordability of housing is determined by many factors, not just the price for rent or a mortgage. For example, monetary policies have a direct impact on the interest rates charged for mortgages and new construction. Laws such as occupational licensing stifle the ability of individuals to start a business or enter a profession-i.e., improve one's income. The impact on the affordability of housing of these and other policies must be identified and considered. Unfortunately, the same flawed framework that has been guiding housing policy has also been guiding policies in other areas. If we truly want to solve the affordable housing crisis, then we must reject the thinking method that has dominated discussions of housing and related policies for more than a century. We must be willing to embrace a new framework, a new way of thinking about housing policy. In Part 1, I address the thinking that caused the housing crisis and continues to make it worse. We will examine the dominant framework, as well as an alternative. In Part 2, I look at the housing policies (and related policies) that were developed in the late 1800s and early 1900s. We will see how these policies impact the affordability of housing. In Part 3, I examine contemporary policies pertaining to housing. We will see that contemporary policies may differ from the failed policies of the past in details, but in principle they are the same. In Part 4, I present alternatives policies to address the housing crisis. I will show how we can truly enable all Americans to have safe, decent, and affordable housing.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. SEMI-FINALIST FOR THE PEN/DIAMONSTEIN-SPIELVOGEL AWARD FOR ART OF THE ESSAY.One of Amazon, Buzzfeed, ELLE, Electric Literature and Pop Sugar's Best Books of 2018. Named one of the Best Books of October and Fall by Amazon, Buzzfeed, TIME, Vulture, The Millions and Vol. 1 Brooklyn."Hilarious, nimble, and thoroughly illuminating." -Colson Whitehead, author of The Underground Railroad A globe-spanning, ambitious book of essays from one of the most enthralling storytellers in narrative nonfictionIn his highly anticipated debut essay collection, Impossible Owls, Brian Phillips demonstrates why he's one of the most iconoclastic journalists of the digital age, beloved for his ambitious, off-kilter, meticulously reported essays that read like novels.The eight essays assembled here-five from Phillips's Grantland and MTV days, and three new pieces-go beyond simply chronicling some of the modern world's most uncanny, unbelievable, and spectacular oddities (though they do that, too). Researched for months and even years on end, they explore the interconnectedness of the globalized world, the consequences of history, the power of myth, and the ways people attempt to find meaning. He searches for tigers in India, and uncovers a multigenerational mystery involving an oil tycoon and his niece turned stepdaughter turned wife in the Oklahoma town where he grew up. Through each adventure, Phillips's remarkable voice becomes a character itself-full of verve, rich with offhanded humor, and revealing unexpected vulnerability. Dogged, self-aware, and radiating a contagious enthusiasm for his subjects, Phillips is an exhilarating guide to the confusion and wonder of the world today. If John Jeremiah Sullivan's Pulphead was the last great collection of New Journalism from the print era, Impossible Owls is the first of the digital age.

A vibrant, surprising and thought-provoking collection of long-form non-fiction that takes us on a kaleidoscopic exploration of contemporary reality

Meet the Electric City! From cattle to coal mines, border ruffians to businessmen, and rockets to railroad schemes, the air around Butler, Missouri, has crackled with energy since the settlement's establishment in 1856. Ravaged by Bushwhackers and Jayhawkers and consumed in 1863 by the flames of General Order No. 11, the settlement rose from the ashes in the late 1860s and 1870s to become a hub of culture and commerce at the western edge of the "Show Me State." In 1881, the capital of Bates County went electric, becoming one of the first municipalities west of the Mississippi to generate its own power, outstripping Thomas Edison's Pearl Street Station in Manhattan by almost a year. A quiet little community with a loud and vibrant history, Butler is the quintessential example of the American small-town experience.

Fundamentally, history is the consequence of ideas. Every movement, revolution, war, and era is ultimately defined and motivated by a guiding ideology. In this book, we will examine the ideas that have shaped (or are shaping) government policies toward numerous industries. We will examine mature industries and newer industries. In examining mature industries, we can trace the long-term consequences of government policies. We can see the cause and the effect. We can see which policies resulted in innovation and progress, and which did not. In identifying the results of past policies, we can predict the future consequences of today's policy debates. Virtually everyone claims to support innovation and progress. But claiming such support and advocating policies that make innovation possible are not the same thing. We cannot discern the difference merely on the basis of claims and professed intentions. We must look at the principles-the fundamental ideas-being advocated.