WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Philadelphia’s Affordable-Housing Plan: a Tax on New Buildings.

Philadelphia’s City Council is weighing a proposed 1% tax on construction to raise millions of dollars for affordable-housing programs, marking the latest push by a U.S. city to address rising residential costs.

The council could pass the new tax this week, setting up a possible showdown with Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney, whose administration warns the levy would hurt the city’s competitiveness as it vies to land Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters.

It would be much easier just to reduce regulatory and zoning burdens retarding affordable housing construction, but that would also reduce opportunities for corruption and graft.