Jerusalem Demsas
American journalist; founder and editor-in-chief of The Argument, a magazine launched in 2025. Previously a staff writer at Vox and The Atlantic, where she wrote about housing and hosted the Good on Paper podcast; author of On the Housing Crisis (2024).
Jerusalem Demsas did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
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Interventions that increase socialization without changing social media consumption are unlikely to address broader societal dysfunctions.
But interventions that seek to increase socialization without changing how much bleak social media content we consume are unlikely to do very much about our broader dysfunctions.
theargumentmag.comSaid 27 Aug 2026This on korrents
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The politics of interest groups act as a significant barrier to solving the U.S. housing supply crisis.
the politics of interest groups are an important barrier to overcome the U.S.' housing supply crisis.
theargumentmag.comSaid 26 Aug 2026This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These 2: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 19 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Interventions that increase socialization without changing social media consumption are unlikely to address broader societal dysfunctions.
But interventions that seek to increase socialization without changing how much bleak social media content we consume are unlikely to do very much about our broader dysfunctions.
The Opening Argument Said 27 Aug 2026
The problem with modern solitude is the negative and extremist nature of the content being consumed.
The problem is not that we're alone a few more hours a week than we used to be; it's that for hours and hours a day, whether we have vibrant social lives or not, we are subject to an unending stream of negativity and extremism.
The Opening Argument Said 27 Aug 2026
The politics of interest groups act as a significant barrier to solving the U.S. housing supply crisis.
the politics of interest groups are an important barrier to overcome the U.S.' housing supply crisis.
The Opening Argument Said 26 Aug 2026
Show 16 more
The era of cheap borrowing has ended, making large-scale government housing investments difficult.
The era of cheap borrowing has come to an end. If the government wants to make large capital investments or spin up brand-new programs, it will have to either raise a lot of taxes (in the middle of a de facto tax revolt) or else borrow even more money, putting existing programs like Medicare or Social Security at risk.
The Opening Argument Said 26 Aug 2026
Having private actors take on housing development risks is better than expecting the government to build millions of homes.
Having private actors take on this risk themselves is actually better than expecting the government to build anywhere from 4 million to 20 million new homes.
The Opening Argument Said 26 Aug 2026
The public's perception of elites is based on a correlation with people who hold positions one dislikes.
We discovered a strong correlation between elites and "people who hold positions I don't like."
The Opening Argument Said 20 Aug 2026
Hostility to elites only explains a small part of electoral outcomes.
There are many ways to interpret these findings all together, but my interpretation is that hostility to elites only explains a small part of electoral outcomes.
The Opening Argument Said 20 Aug 2026
A community with the power to punish economic offenses may eventually use that power in other realms of life.
But it's also not an accident that a community with enough coercive power to punish someone for charging a lot for nails ends up using that coercive power in other realms of life as well.
The Opening Argument Said 18 Aug 2026
Different people can reason well and still arrive at very different beliefs.
But a large part of our disagreement comes from the fact that different people, reasoning well, often end up believing very different things.
The Opening Argument Said 18 Aug 2026
Politics should not be the place where people find meaning.
But where I depart from Murphy's call for meaning-making is that politics isn't where people should find meaning.
The Opening Argument Said 18 Aug 2026
Treating a leveraged, nondiversified, illiquid asset as the universally correct foundation for personal financial security is an irresponsible public message.
It is an irresponsible public message to treat a leveraged, nondiversified, illiquid asset as the universally correct foundation for personal financial security.
The Opening Argument Said 30 Jul 2026
A home is an asset that is likely to perform poorly exactly when a person needs it most due to its correlation with local labor market shocks.
As a result, instead of an asset that's there for you when other things are going poorly, a home is an asset that is likely to perform poorly exactly when you need it not to.
The Opening Argument Said 30 Jul 2026
Homeownership can act as a drag on financial security by making it harder to migrate to better job markets.
Owning a home makes it much harder to leave your region if you need to. When you lose your job - or just want a new one - homeownership acts as a drag.
The Opening Argument Said 30 Jul 2026
There is no unified billionaire class that decides elections and gets its way whenever it throws money around.
There is no unified billionaire class that decides elections and gets its way whenever it throws money around.
The Opening Argument Said 16 Jul 2026
Wealthy donors use their resources to amplify the voices of people they like rather than purchasing specific beliefs.
Usually, they are not purchasing beliefs, rather they are amplifying the voices of people who they like.
The Opening Argument Said 16 Jul 2026
The structure of power in American politics often cleaves along lines that have nothing to do with being a billionaire.
And when I consider the structure of power in American politics, it often cleaves along lines that have nothing to do with being a billionaire.
The Opening Argument Said 16 Jul 2026
The YIMBY movement has transformed American housing politics for the better.
The YIMBY movement has transformed American housing politics for the better.
Why is it so hard for liberals to take the W? Said 23 Jun 2026
The most difficult barrier to housing growth is that decision-making is heavily decentralized.
The most difficult barrier to growth is that decision-making on housing is heavily decentralized, so even if you do get state action, localities have infinite tools at their disposal to delay implementation or create an inhospitable environment for developers.
Why is it so hard for liberals to take the W? Said 23 Jun 2026
Liberal norms intended to prevent overconfidence can cause people to underweight conclusions that are actually true.
The norms that guard relentlessly against overconfidence don't actually help with the opposite problem of excessive doubt. In fact, they can actually hurt, causing people to end up underweighting a conclusion that is actually true.
Why is it so hard for liberals to take the W? Said 23 Jun 2026
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Where they publish
Newsletter The Argument Magazine she founded and edits; her essays on housing, liberalism and politics alongside other writers' pieces
Link verified 24 Oct 2026.
x.com @JerusalemDemsas Posts on housing, YIMBY politics, liberalism and The Argument's pieces
Link verified 24 Oct 2026.
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