5 ms·
Blaming capitalism for this missed a lot of facts. Housing supply is artificially restricted through zoning and other regulations. And housing demand is artific
by humanrebar 11y ago
Blaming capitalism for this missed a lot of facts. Housing supply is artificially restricted through zoning and other regulations. And housing demand is artificially stimulated through various tax breaks and subsidies. Neither are market forces and they certainly combine to drive up prices.
Maybe other factors are at work here. I hear foreign nationals like buying real estate to hedge against their home countries' political and economic stability. But that wouldn't be capitalism either. It would be foreign policy affecting Britain and the US for a change, instead of the other way around.
- emodendroket 11y agoI don't think so. Ultimately, this could not happen if the market did not set rents.
- humanrebar 11y agoThe market sets rent within the parameters it is given. Maybe an entrepreneur could build taller buildings with cheaper per-unit prices, but zoning regulations cap building height. In that way, the market isn't really setting the absolute price. On top of that, many localities literally overrule market prices with various forms of price fixing, affordable housing mandates, etc. Would it be an open market if we only removed one regulation, height restrictions? Nope. But to blame capitalism when other major forces are at play is not a full assessment of the situation.