Parable of the Burning State

OSO writes:

“With thousands of houses already torched beyond repair and tens of
thousands more likely to perish, this mass immolation will reduce the
surplus supply of houses in California.” said Professor Saul O’Hara of
the New York School of Economics today. “With a drop in supply there
will come an increase in prices, which will then reinvigorate the
state’s, and the nation’s, property market”.

Steps have already been taken to ensure the destruction of as many
houses as possible. Earlier today, Governor Schwarzenegger called in the
California Air National Guard to begin fire bombing the Inland Empire.

(Don’t forget the taxes. With prop 13, you can’t raise property taxes on existing homes unless they’re sold. Burning down houses, on the other hand, means when new ones are built tax revenues will rise…cactus)