> I find it much more common for people to dismiss Econ 101 principles religiously (e.g. less strict zoning will just create more luxury apartments that will actually make housing more expensive; demand subsidies to college education, an inelastic good, will make it more affordable).
I don't think any of that's religious. People believe subsidizing college education will make it cheaper because of common sense and lived experience of short-term effects (increasing subsidy to something generally does make it cheaper in the immediate), and people believe relaxing zoning will make housing more expensive because they see higher prices in places that have relaxed zoning than in neighbouring places that haven't.
I don't think any of that's religious. People believe subsidizing college education will make it cheaper because of common sense and lived experience of short-term effects (increasing subsidy to something generally does make it cheaper in the immediate), and people believe relaxing zoning will make housing more expensive because they see higher prices in places that have relaxed zoning than in neighbouring places that haven't.