Phoenix, and Arizona, are rapidly gaining in population. New Arizonans — workers, neighbors, friends, and family to many of us — have come to our state for social and economic opportunity. We simply aren’t building homes fast enough to put roofs over their heads.

from Zillow indicates that housing prices across Arizona have risen by 31.9% in the past year, compared to 12.5% from Oct. 2019 through Oct. 2020.

We have a supply and demand problem. Housing construction is not keeping pace with population growth, and the gap between housing supply and demand grows every day. This has caused Arizona’s housing prices to skyrocket, impacting one of Arizona’s distinct competitive advantages: affordable land and affordable housing.

Much of this issue centers around zoning. Phoenix and surrounding areas have a ton of “single-family zoning” — think suburbia — with little “high-density zoning” — think apartments and townhouses. For many years, Arizona thrived as a suburban hub. As time has gone on, and the state has become an increasingly popular destination for emigrants from across the nation and world, the Valley and cities across the state have gotten quite crowded.

This isn’t to say that single-family housing has got to go. It most certainly does not. It is to say that policymakers ought to reconsider the balance of low- and high-density zoning. 

Just take a look at Phoenix’s zoning map (this is just a cross-section, the full map can be found ):

Lots in red are zoned for commercial use. Lots in orange are zoned for high-density housing. All that light yellow is single-family zoning.

Leaders in government should work with community leaders, developers, job creators, and residents to expand high-density zoning and allow builders to fulfill market demand for housing. Right now we’re choking the hose, and it’s raising prices for everyone.

Anti-growth policies that impede housing development include limited multi-family zoning, inclusionary zoning, and rent control.

Inclusionary zoning is a which “requires or incentivizes private developers to designate a certain percentage of the units in a given project as below market rate (BMR)—cheaper than their value on the market, and often less than the price of producing them.” While it sounds good on paper, it ultimately reduces housing supply and raises housing prices.

Rent control, Megan McArdle of the Washington Post, is “[t]he one issue every economist can agree is bad.” Housing is a commodity that is governed by the laws of supply and demand, and price controls in this market do nothing to expand housing access, and actually “reduce… the incentive to supply rental housing.”

Milton Friedman’s is relevant here: “One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results.”

Thankfully, Arizona has a statewide ban on cities enacting inclusionary zoning and rent control. But a lack of high density zoning in the Phoenix valley is contributing to Arizona’s increasing dearth of affordable housing.

One of the most important solutions to rapidly rising housing prices is quite simple: build more housing. That can’t be done so long as cities and towns across the state opt for anti-growth zoning and regulatory policies that push out low-, middle-, and working-class residents who can barely afford to get by as is.

Policy solutions and thorough research on the issue already exist. Organizations like the have been fighting this battle for years and their policy recommendations deserve serious consideration as leaders race to solve this housing crisis.

The time is now for Arizona leaders, particularly those in cities and towns across the state who directly oversee zoning laws, to act on housing. Let’s venture beyond good intentions, and secure good outcomes as well.

Joe Pitts is studying business management (B.S.) and civic and economic thought and leadership (B.S.) at Arizona State University. He is an intern at the Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce & Industry, and the cofounder and Editor-in-Chief of the Western Tribune (westerntrib.com).

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A bill is currently being discussed in the Senate that would not only impose dangerous alterations to over 85 years of labor law, but is also a series of reckless policies that would favor unions at the expense of employers and the economy. 

The proposal in question is the (S. 420/H.R. 842). Proponents of the PRO Act claim it would “,” but a closer look at the proposed legislation illustrates it only ensnares employers in unrelated labor disputes and would severely damage Arizona workplaces and competitiveness.

Right-to-Work Elimination

A bipartisan research firm, recently conducted , and the results reveal serious concerns Americans have about the PRO Act.

Among the litany of bad ideas within this proposed legislation would be the effective repeal of right-to-work protections that currently exist in 28 states, including Arizona.These right-to-work laws provide assurances to employees that they do not have to pay labor union dues in order to keep their job. According to the poll, this specific issue alone was a serious concern for. Moreover,, “these results did not vary much based on party either: 68 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Independents, and 74 percent of Republicans said they had concerns over repealing right-to-work laws.”

Currently, employees can elect not to join a labor union at their workplace — it is entirely their choice. The PRO Act would change that and allow unions to disregard established state law and collect dues from employees who have decided to opt out of a union. Additionally, in a state without right-to-work laws, an employer would more than likely be required by the labor contract to terminate an employee who refuses to pay union dues. This is why more and more states have adopted right-to-work laws.

“If the PRO Act were to pass, it would do tremendous damage to Arizona’s workplaces and its overall competitiveness,” said David Martin, President of the Arizona chapter of the Associated General Contractors in a Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ article last month. “We’re so fortunate to have a right-to-work law in Arizona that ensures that the decision whether to join a labor union is left up to the employee. Our workplaces are largely free of hostility and intimidation. We want to keep it that way.”

Revival of the card check, eliminating secret ballots

The PRO Act will also undermine the use of secret ballot elections. Instead, allowing labor unions to use a “card check” where workers would sign a card to authorize a union rather than privately voting a ballot. These secret ballot elections, which are overseen by the National Labor Relations Board, provide protections to workers from coercion and/or intimidation by either the labor union or the employer.

According to the poll, this specific issue alone was a serious concern for. Moreover,, “these results did not vary much based on party either: 68 percent of Democrats, 65 percent of Independents, and 74 percent of Republicans said they had concerns over repealing right-to-work laws.”

The potential for union organizers to abuse this information in order to pressure workers is concerning. Workers could become subject to coercion and intimidation within their workplace, home, and out with their family. It’s not clear how this “levels the playing field and brings more fairness to working Americans”.

Economic Impact

Some might not oppose this proposed act at first glance, but many American workers would reconsider if they knew long term it would hurt their jobs and their wallet.

Unions’ demands for mandated wage packages and stringent staffing rules would effectively kneecap the competitiveness of American companies.

This fact is a large reason unionization rates in the country have., “The number of wage and salary workers belonging to unions, at 14.3 million in 2020, was down by 321,000, or 2.2 percent, from 2019.”

If the PRO Act really were pro-worker, more Americans might support it. But the recent polling data is revealing. American workers don’t want dollars from their paychecks diverted to labor unions, and they don’t want to stifle job growth, especially in a post-pandemic economy. Let’s hope Arizona Senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly and the rest of the Senate are paying attention. For more information on the PRO Act click .

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Discussions about the economy generally touch upon jobs, wages, capital, and other measurements, but they don’t often recognize “innovation.” Arguably the most important metric in assessing an economy’s growth, innovation helps to assess the ways companies are becoming more efficient in their practices. And last year, it reached its highest mark since 2010.

The official measurement of , multifactor productivity, grew 1 percent last year – the fastest growth rate since 2010. Multifactor productivity measures the growth in output after measuring the effect of capital and labor. In other words, without adding more employees or capital, how are firms increasing output?

Productivity is crucial because it improves Americans’ standard of living under all circumstances. This occurs because as firms increase their profit margins through more efficient methods, they are able to increase employee salaries and/or lower prices. Either way, consumers cash in more money than they would with lower productivity.

Arizona Tech Council president and CEO Steven Zylstra highlighted the reasons why productivity has increased at its highest rate in nine years.

“I would attribute a significant amount of that enhanced productivity to technology,” Zylstra said. “I think all sorts of technologies are being used to streamline making things more productive than they historically could have been. I think that’s just going to increase significantly as we move into an era of AI and machine learning because so much will be able to be done with so little.”

Between 2000 and 2007, the U.S. experienced, on average, a 1.4 percent growth rate in productivity, which is much higher than the 1 percent growth rate last year. However, economic skeptics shouldn’t forecast an economic slowdown. Zylstra points out that this period followed the dot-com boom; because the internet was arguably the greatest technological advancement of all time, comparing the two growth rates isn’t a reasonable assessment.

With the rise of smartphones, robotics, and information technology, Zylstra believes we are well-positioned to ride this productivity wave moving forward. In fact, some of this growth even , which ranks in the top third of US states for innovation.

“Here in Phoenix, we’re in the process of outfitting the most significant chip processing plant on the planet,” he said. “It’s going to produce semiconductors with seven nanometer feature sizes. The amount of capability that we’re able to put in people’s hands is mind-boggling. I think robotics and automation, software and IT, and the massive processing power have been some of the main drivers in enhancing our productivity.”

U.S. productivity is in its best position since 2010, and the economy will react accordingly. With the development of more efficient technologies and practices, everybody wins.

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