Economics on New York City Elections
New York City local government elections are happening in 2025, with election primaries on June 24, 2025. Since I live in New York City, I’ve put together below a list of Nominal News articles on election topics that are currently being discussed.
Immigration
Research on immigration shows that immigrants bring significant economic value and are in many cases positive for the fiscal health of the government. The three articles below describe this research at length:
Traffic/Congestion Pricing/Transit
Dealing with traffic and congestion is major issue in New York. The two articles below explain why congestion pricing works:
Transit, which is a public good, is often under-invested in. Research below shows how transit significantly increases housing opportunity and also increases housing values, enhancing welfare:
Housing Affordability
Housing affordability is a complex issue. Evidence suggests that house prices are not very responsive to various solutions. Moreover, the share of income spent on housing + transportation costs is very stable across time and cities. The two articles discuss this evidence:
To explain the patterns we observe in housing, I explain in a three part series, how we can think about developing a high-level model of housing that explains some of the observed facts:
Community Investments/Miscellaneous
Active community intervention programs, where local government makes it easier for locals to get in touch with government contacts or programs, seem to have a high positive impact in communities with higher trust in government. The research in the article below shows how this can be a good complement to police:
Third-spaces (i.e. places that are not home or an office) seem to increase innovation as it allows people to congregate and work together. The article below describes the research showing the benefits of coffee shops:
After the Covid-19 pandemic, working from home became much more popular. The benefits of work from home and hybrid work (part at home, part in office) have been demonstrated by economists. Work from home has also altered city geography, resulting in more areas seeing growth in restaurants and cafes. The two articles below explain what the research tells us and why work from home should be embraced:
