Taxing their people into prosperity.
Even with unemployment at a 50-year low, homelessness is on the rise in American cities as the cost of housing ramps higher. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reports that the homeless population grew 0.3% this year, a second annual increase after seven years of declines. The backdrop is skyrocketing rentals in the biggest metropolitan areas: New York and Los Angeles, where a quarter of the nation’s homeless live, have seen rents increase 20% and 30%, respectively, since 2012.