For the people of Lebanon, now living in one of the most severe crises in human history, cynicism has a constant presence. For the entirety of living memory, Lebanon’s formal institutions have been a colossal mess, with a slew of dysfunctional governments collapsing while new ones arise from the ashes. But today Lebanon is experiencing an unprecedented period of instability, with one of the worst economic declines in recorded history, hyperinflation and a collapse of its financial system.

In a recent Politico op-ed, “Why Public Health Experts Aren’t Reaching Conservatives on COVID,” University of Chicago professor Harold Pollack insightfully describes how public health’s ideological monoculture impedes the field’s capacity to communicate with conservatives. He proposes a provocative solution for schools of public health: “affirmative action for conservatives, starting now.” Though well-intentioned, his proposal is untenable, because there’s no reason to believe that the bulk of his colleagues would welcome or even tolerate the diversity of thought that Pollack seeks.

As state legislatures reconvene under the shadow of a lingering pandemic, it remains abundantly clear that housing supply is insufficient to meet demand. Although some of the supply issues, such as lumber prices, are beyond states’ reach, states play a vital role in setting the rules and incentives that influence whether localities decide to permit new housing construction. Overly restrictive local zoning is the fundamental cause of America’s housing shortage, and states can place limits on local zoning as well as reform the processes that make land use regulation a source of frustration for so many local officials and citizens.