Over the past year, frustration over the cost of housing in the United States has become a centerpiece of the presidential race, a focus of government policy and an agonizing nationwide problem.

Conor Dougherty, who covers housing for The Times, explains why the origin of the housing crisis is what makes it so hard to solve.

Guest: Conor Dougherty, who covers housing for The New York Times.

Background reading: 

• Whyhousing-crisis.html"> too few homes get built in the United States.
• A decade ago, Kalamazoo — and all of Michigan — had too many houses.crisis-kalamazoo-michigan.html"> Now it has a shortage.

For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday.