Vance argues that federal lands, cheaper energy can hold down housing costs
Analyzing the article
Our Analysis: 2 Fallacies
We are a country of builders. We're a country of doers. We're a country of explorers. But we increasingly have a Federal administration that makes it harder to develop our resources, makes it harder to build things... And what that means is that you have a lot of people who would love to build homes who aren't able to build homes... We have a lot of federal lands that aren't being used for anything. They're not being used for national parks. They're not being used. And they could be places where we build a lot of housing. And I do think that we should be opening up building in this country. We have a lot of land that could be used.
Vance's arguments blame illegal immigration and over-regulation for driving up housing costs, but provide little evidence to substantiate those claims as root causes. His proposals to increase domestic energy production and build on federal lands are potentially helpful solutions, but he offers no analysis of their potential impacts or feasibility in providing immediate relief to the housing shortage.
1. questionable cause • Vance assumes that the housing shortage is being materially worsened by illegal immigration.
Twenty-five million illegal aliens competing with Americans for scarce homes is one of the most significant drivers of home prices in the country.
Actually, the increased demand for housing predates the recent immigration surge and is primarily caused by generational effects and other factors apart from immigration. While immigrants may play a small role in the increased demand for housing, immigrants also supply a disproportionate share of the workforce for home construction, helping make it more affordable to build houses.
Vance's assumption then is dubious, and would require substantial evidence that he does not provide in the course of this debate.
2. loaded language • The term "illegal aliens" carries a negative and dehumanizing connotation when referring to illegal immigrants.
...letting in millions of illegal aliens into this country...
Elsewhere Vance uses the term "illegal immigrants," which is more precise and neutral than either the dehumanizing "illegal aliens" or the euphemistic "undocumented immigrants" when referring to those who have entered or remained in a country in violation of immigration laws. A balanced analysis should avoid loaded language in either direction and stick to descriptive terms that accurately capture the legal status without demonization or obfuscation.
References
- JD Vance (2024, Oct 1). Vance on housing costs: Topic #8 of the VP debate of October 1st, 2024.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-vp-debate-transcript-walz-vance-2024/
Disclaimer
Note that there being one or more apparent fallacies in the arguments presented in this article does not mean that every argument the arguer made was fallacious, nor does it mean there are not other arguments in existence for the same or similar position that are logically valid. Also note that checking for fallacies is not the same as verification of the premises the arguer starts from, such as facts that the arguer asserts or principles that the arguer assumes as the foundation for constructing arguments. For more about this, see our 'What is Fallacy Checking?'
NO AI TRAINING
Without in any way limiting the author’s [and publisher’s] exclusive rights under copyright, any use of this publication to “train” generative artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to generate text is expressly prohibited. The author reserves all rights to license uses of this work for generative AI training and development of machine learning language models.
Comments