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Yes, but the state, not the refugees, are the buyers. This means that service and quality quickly become irrelevant, and the race to the bottom begins. Before

Yes, but the state, not the refugees, are the buyers. This means that service and quality quickly become irrelevant, and the race to the bottom begins. Before you know it, you have unscrupulous folks taking government cash to lock refugees in a gritty basement without food and basic facilities. I'm not saying this is an inevitability, but it's the dynamic that this creates - and that's why this should be the responsibility of the state - or set up so the refugees have a choice where they're put.

Shivetya 11y ago
so your claiming that if wholly government managed they would be more accountable? Really? Who is a government agency ever truly accountable too? The solution of all this is simple, government sets standards to be met and has inspectors who insure they are met. If the standards are kept and one of them can be a "happiness factor" who cares if they profit. Plus the added benefit of these private groups is that can iterate faster, are more likely to bring new ideas to the table, and improve the lot of the refugees faster than government agencies which tend to persist problems to extend their own existence
- madaxe_again 11y ago
  Right, but if you give the refugees freedom of choice in which residential centre they reside, market forces will eliminate poor providers. If you don't give them choice, regulation is necessary, as you say, but you're then back in the realm of self-perpetuating quangos, as you say.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    No, market forces will not eliminate poor providers. It may eliminate those who try to beat the market and drop their quality too quickly, but as the options to cut costs are exhausted, everyone will be pushed down to the minimum quality level they can still get away with selling. Regulation can be an effective way to establish a border below which the quality won't drop, thus making the market solution potentially desirable.
kaonashi 11y ago
If you want to create a market for housing refugees, give the refugees themselves housing credits and let companies compete to provide the services. Supply-side-only solutions rarely work.
- gozur88 11y ago
  I wonder if that's politically feasible in a country this small. They've accepted enough refugees that to simply dump them into the broader housing market would cause a pretty sharp spike in the cost of housing for everyone.
  - kaonashi 11y ago
    That's when you want to start focusing on supply side, once demand has driven inflation, it may be that the local housing market has the capacity to absorb the extra spending.
    - gozur88 11y ago
      Oh, it's the most efficient way to deal with the problem. But political reality can be the antithesis of efficiency.

Shivetya 11y ago

so your claiming that if wholly government managed they would be more accountable? Really? Who is a government agency ever truly accountable too? The solution of all this is simple, government sets standards to be met and has inspectors who insure they are met. If the standards are kept and one of them can be a "happiness factor" who cares if they profit. Plus the added benefit of these private groups is that can iterate faster, are more likely to bring new ideas to the table, and improve the lot of the refugees faster than government agencies which tend to persist problems to extend their own existence

madaxe_again 11y ago
Right, but if you give the refugees freedom of choice in which residential centre they reside, market forces will eliminate poor providers. If you don't give them choice, regulation is necessary, as you say, but you're then back in the realm of self-perpetuating quangos, as you say.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  No, market forces will not eliminate poor providers. It may eliminate those who try to beat the market and drop their quality too quickly, but as the options to cut costs are exhausted, everyone will be pushed down to the minimum quality level they can still get away with selling. Regulation can be an effective way to establish a border below which the quality won't drop, thus making the market solution potentially desirable.

kaonashi 11y ago

If you want to create a market for housing refugees, give the refugees themselves housing credits and let companies compete to provide the services. Supply-side-only solutions rarely work.

gozur88 11y ago
I wonder if that's politically feasible in a country this small. They've accepted enough refugees that to simply dump them into the broader housing market would cause a pretty sharp spike in the cost of housing for everyone.
- kaonashi 11y ago
  That's when you want to start focusing on supply side, once demand has driven inflation, it may be that the local housing market has the capacity to absorb the extra spending.
  - gozur88 11y ago
    Oh, it's the most efficient way to deal with the problem. But political reality can be the antithesis of efficiency.