No, Austerity Did Not Drive Mamdani’s Success

In a recent New York Times op-ed, writer Jonathan Mahler claims that for decades, New York City has been hostile to welfare spending. The backlash against this austerity toward the poor, he argues, contributed to the rise of mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani.

Not quite, Eric Kober writes. Nearly half of the city’s residents are on Medicaid, compared with 35 percent statewide; there’s a multibillion-dollar affordable housing effort; and the city is committed to sheltering the homeless. And young, college-educated adults are the ones who supported Mamdani in the mayoral primary; those in low-income neighborhoods supported former governor Andrew Cuomo.

Read more here.

A provision in federal law allows universities to hire faculty from other countries without counting against the H-1B program’s visa cap—currently at 65,000 annually, plus an extra 20,000 for foreign workers who have obtained a master’s degree or higher. Republicans in both the House and the Senate have proposed repealing the provision.

That would be a mistake, Santiago Vidal Calvo argues. “The right answer is not to cut the number of H-1B visas,” he writes, “but to ensure that they are awarded to talented foreigners who will love and respect the United States.”

Read his analysis of how Republicans’ moves could backfire.

Regulatory overreach, global competition, and policy missteps have helped to hollow out the American industrial base. While President Trump has promised to restore it through tariffs on foreign goods, “the long-term key to any American reindustrialization,” Steven Malanga writes, “is clearing away outdated rules and building an economic environment that rewards investment and risk-taking here at home.”

Read his take in our Summer issue.

Former governor Andrew Cuomo recently proposed income limits for rent-regulated apartments in New York City. For new tenants, rent would have to eat up at least 30 percent of their income.

The idea makes no sense, Nicole Gelinas writes. “Economists generally say it’s a good idea for a city to have enough housing stock so that most tenants must spend only 30 percent of their income on rent,” she points out. “To decree that prospective tenants of rent-regulated apartments must find a unit that they can barely afford is upside-down economics.”

Read more about what the Cuomo campaign refers to as “Zohran’s Law.”

Since 2010, 25 cities in the Sun Belt have accounted for 41 percent of new single-family homes and 35 percent of new apartments. How? “They’ve grown primarily by expanding their footprint rather than densifying built-up areas,” Cullum Clark observes. He argues that this smart suburban expansion offers a model for other states and localities.

“Build out infrastructure to support metropolitan expansion; allow starter homes, apartments, and town homes; attract employers to suburban communities; promote mixed-use centers and greenspace; and avoid urban growth boundaries or any policy aimed at forcing people into built-up core cities,” he writes.

Read more on why the Sun Belt formula has been so successful.

Charles Fain Lehman, Ilya Shapiro, Carolyn Gorman, and John Ketcham discuss the federalization of the D.C. police under the Trump administration and what it signals for local governance in the nation’s capital. They explore New York City’s controversial proposal for involuntary commitment of individuals with substance-use problems, raising critical questions about civil liberties and public safety. The panel also examines the broader atmosphere of disorder in New York City and ponders the surprising rise in alcohol abstention among young Americans. 

“My parents were raised during the Great Depression, when there was no welfare, no food stamps and no free healthcare. They didn’t run around killing people to score ideological points. They learned to cope with the inevitable ups and downs of life as they embraced self-reliance.

Today’s spoiled brats freak out when their WiFi goes down.”

Photo credit: Michael M. Santiago / Staff / Getty Images News via Getty Images