Green Keynesianism and Suburban Retrofit: An Institutional Perspective

Keynesian stimulus has focused on labor employment but, with given technology, will also increase natural resource consumption. This is problematic for an oil-dependent economy facing the necessity to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and declining energy return on investment in domestic oil production. The collapse of the U.S. housing bubble in 2007 has left a substantial excess housing stock in car-dependent outer suburbs. A suburban retrofit strategy is identified that establishes sustainable common carrier transport corridors, with reorientation of suburban trips to local, multi-use center at the corridor point of access. The policy aims to thread the needle between increased labor employment and improved strategic resource efficiency. The principle obstacle to the policy is the accommodation of existing institutions of residential zoning and transport corridor funding to the previous growth regime of extensive single-use property development. Accordingly, this paper identifies institutional reforms in support of the policy.