Sometimes it us useful to see your own issues playing out elsewhere. Achieving growth and transformation at the same time requires multiple objectives. Alex Tabarrok writes on the Marginal Revolution blog about how the Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) evaluates (affordable) housing projects for tax credits. They give out points for desirable projects, but the scorecard is set up in a way that only 3% of the points are for the cost of the project. rather than affordable housing what is actually being incentivized is some combination of:

• Universal design for accessibility
• Racial equity goals
• Environmental sustainability
• Community development
• Supporting vulnerable populations

These are laudable goals, but they don’t give you affordable housing.

It is also the story of inclusive growth in South Africa and exactly why we need to have a National Dialogue about what we want and what trade-offs we are willing to make. It is no use dreaming that we can have everything for everyone now (or even soon).