Affordable Housing and the Conflict of Competing Goods: A Policy Dilemma

AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, pp. 1-9, Nestor M. Davidson & Robin Paul Malloy, eds., Ashgate Press, 2009

Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 10-07

10 Pages Posted: 24 Feb 2010

See all articles by Michael Diamond

Michael Diamond

Georgetown University Law Center

Abstract

This paper, which was the keynote address at a conference on Affordable Housing and Pubic Private Partnerships at the University of Colorado Law School, is designed to point out the conflicts between various competing social “goods” in relation to the provision of affordable housing. In a world of finite resources in which competing goods cannot both be maximized at the same time, when the goods are incommensurable, how ought a society choose among them? The paper focuses on such issues as preservation of affordable housing and wealth creation; affordability and handicapped accessibility or green development. It examines various methods of societal choosing and provides a critique of each such method. It then cautions policy makers to be conscious of these incommensurable goals and to determine how to prioritize them.

Keywords: Housing Policy, Low-Income Housing, Housing Subsidies

JEL Classification: R21, R31

Suggested Citation

Diamond, Michael R., Affordable Housing and the Conflict of Competing Goods: A Policy Dilemma. AFFORDABLE HOUSING AND PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS, pp. 1-9, Nestor M. Davidson & Robin Paul Malloy, eds., Ashgate Press, 2009, Georgetown Public Law Research Paper No. 10-07, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1558474

Michael R. Diamond (Contact Author)

Georgetown University Law Center ( email )

600 New Jersey Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20001
United States

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