Brian Potter's Substack newsletter analyzing the construction industry's productivity stagnation and the economic and regulatory causes behind the housing crisis.
The construction productivity mystery: unlike most industries, construction productivity has barely increased in 70 years — a building built today takes roughly as many labor hours as one built in 1950. Potter documents why: project complexity, regulatory fragmentation, lack of standardization, union work rules, and site-specific conditions that resist industrial scaling. Became essential reading for housing policy wonks and urbanists. Demonstrates that narrow industry expertise + excellent writing can build a significant audience on Substack.
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