Much of the homelessness problem in SF (and also NYC, LA, Boston, DC, ....) can be solved by not spending more money, but by simply reversing "economic rents" s

Much of the homelessness problem in SF (and also NYC, LA, Boston, DC, ....) can be solved by not spending more money, but by simply reversing "economic rents" sought be landlords to create zoning density restrictions. These zoning density restrictions create a politically induced scarcity of housing and other real estate which results in a regressive tax transferring wealth and income from renters to landlords. "Economic rents" are a type of "market failure" of an efficient market. Much of fixing the economy can be stimulated by identifying market failures that are often created by special interest groups (in this case landlords like Donald Trump). Instead of focusing on wealth creation, they use political connections to create artificial scarcity with the resulting higher housing and office costs to benefit them but hurt the overall economy. Interestingly, there was a prominent NYTimes article which demonstrated how Trump received $885 million in tax abatements, etc. but there have never been articles by the NYTimes about the fact that Trump and other wealthy landlords are realizing far more than they would if the "economic rents" were fixed. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/nyregion/donald-trump-tax-breaks-real-estate.html http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/nyregion/donald-trump-tax-... Renters spend more money on rent and less money on goods and services. Reversing the politically induced housing scarcity by eliminating the "rent seeking" laws would in addition to freeing up money that renters spend making landlords wealthier on goods and services stimulating the economy while at the same time would stimulate a housing boom. See Harvard Economist Edward Glaeser's article about building affordable housing in NYC (which of course applies to SF and other cities as well). Glaeser: Build Big, Bill http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/build-big-bill-article-1.1913739 http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/build-big-bill-article-1.... In general "market failures" such as this one are a "brake" on economic growth and costs no money to fix, simply take away bad laws that serve the few, well connected, over the many. Before trying stimulus, raising minimum wage, etc. simply reverse laws that create "market failure" benefiting special interests such as landlords and let the economy to its thing when the markets are made more efficient again.