For decades, Hawai‘i residents have struggled with housing availability and affordability. Median home prices have climbed beyond middle-class reach, local households pay an unsustainable portion of their income to housing, and the state has one of the highest rates of homelessness in the country. The pandemic recession has only made matters worse.

Because the problem is so pervasive, every legislative session considers a raft of remedies. But what strategies really work? Based on the experiences of similar markets and new economic research, what interventions are most effective, most cost-efficient, most scalable, and least likely to produce negative unexpected consequences? What steps do we need to take now to set the stage for a post-covid economy that is more equitable and resilient?

To answer these questions, UH is hosting a live online forum with national and local experts. The forum, “How to renovate housing policy in a way that really works,” is available on the bottom of the page as a YouTube video.

“Housing affordability and availability is one of the most serious challenges we face in Hawai‘i,” notes Denise Konan, Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Professor of Economics. “It’s critical that we advance solutions supported by evidence, so we’re pleased to be hosting this event to help sort through the best ideas for Hawai‘i.”

“Rebecca Diamond is an original and creative thinker, one of the most brilliant economists working on housing,” adds Philip Garboden, HCRC Professor in Affordable Housing at UH’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning. “Her insights on new research can help craft effective remedies that will work here.”

The event is free and open to the public.

Rebecca Diamond is an Associate Professor of Economics at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. With a wide-ranging research agenda, she has published on gender gaps in the gig economy, the geography of unequal consumption, rent control, affordable housing development, income redistribution, and the effects of foreclosure.

She will be interviewed by Colin Moore, Director of UH’s Public Policy Center. Hawai‘i guests include Carl Bonham, Executive Director of the University of Hawai‘i Economic Research Organization (UHERO), and Nadine Nakamura, chair of the Housing Committee in the Hawai‘i State House of Representatives.

The Better Tomorrow Speaker Series is a joint venture of UH Mānoa, Hawai‘i Community Foundation, and Kamehameha Schools.

Event sponsors include the UH Mānoa College of Social Sciences, Scholars Strategy Network, UHERO, Department of Economics, Public Policy Center, and the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.