Future Development Reads: Housing, Immigration in France, and India’s budget

1. What if houses were mainly a consumption good rather than an investment? The New York Times article on economists Ed Glaeser and Joe Gyourko’s paper points to how zoning regulations may be taxing development more than is warranted by the benefits. 

In Immigration in France: Myths and Reality, E. M. Mouhoud exposes 15 “lies” about the subject (in French). One is that France receives a large number of immigrants: in fact, France has the smallest share of immigrants of any Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development country.
Each year the Accountability Initiative publishes reports on the trends, allocations, and outcomes of India’s public budget just before the budget is announced. An impressive piece of analysis and exposition that helps citizens to hold their government accountable.