Wall Street makes an easy villain in the housing crisis.

But the real culprit lurks in the shadows of government regulation. Comment “Housing” and we’ll send you a video that explores the topic further. In many of America’s most expensive cities, high prices signal strong demand for new construction. Yet zoning restrictions, permitting delays, and neighborhood opposition make it difficult to respond. That helps explain why cities like Atlanta, Austin, and Phoenix have often attracted more new construction relative to demand than places where building is heavily constrained. Expensive housing reflects scarcity. Investors may respond to that scarcity, but regulation often prevents them from solving it.