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Housing Constraints In San Francisco, San Jose & NYC Weighing Down Entire US Economy

(CBS SF) -- The Bay Area may be a nexus for high-paying tech jobs, but its tough housing market is hurting the entire country, according to a new study.

The National Bureau of Economic Research released a paper last month claiming NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) policies that restrict the flow of housing in New York, San Francisco and San Jose are diminishing the national economy.

Researchers said that increased "wage dispersion" from 1964 to 2009 had held back the U.S. GDP growth by 13.5 percent largely because of housing constraints in those three cities.

According to a proposed model in the study, if New York, San Francisco and San Jose were to make more new housing available, the national GDP could rise by 9.5 percent.

The study also found the aggregate growth of New York, San Francisco and San Jose was so little that together the three cities contributed as much to U.S. GDP growth as places that suffered negative local growth like Detroit.

"How can New York, San Francisco, and San Jose start pulling their weight?" news analysis website CityLab asks. "There are two plain answers. One is that cities can provide better public transportation bridging low-wage and high-wage areas. The other answer is more direct: Cities can start saying yes to new housing."

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