Someone does not have a clue.
And it isn't Dr. Sowell.
I could have documented this in painful detail, had I known where it was headed at the time.
Many of us have lived it from the inside, and his analysis not only makes sense, it is a perfect summary of the results of the process.
I will not bore everyone with the process, but I can say this: in one of the most expensive counties in the country, one could buy a comfortable 3 bedroom home for $13k. Thirty years later, when the "compassionate controllers" had taken over, the fees alone, for the "privilege" of building a home was twice that.