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They are leeches and we should tax rentiers. Tax them out of existence. Or as near as we can get. As Keynes said the euthanasia of the rentier, the functionles

They are leeches and we should tax rentiers. Tax them out of existence. Or as near as we can get. As Keynes said the euthanasia of the rentier, the functionless "investor" is to be welcomed. edit: to the poster below Many airbnb are not people "renting on a weekend when they go on holiday". It's a mini hotel. The former I don't mind, the latter should be taxed out of existence. Your comment about groceries is dire. Production of food is elastic. Production of land is not. Taxing those who simply try to be middle men to be, yes, a rentier is a good thing. Not to take a cut but to get rid of them. So many bad comments on HN that fail to understand elasticity and how prices are set. I'm off.

cgmg 9y ago
Uh... Keynes never said we should tax people who rent their homes out of existence. That idea is quite nonsensical and counterproductive from an economic point of view. It's like saying we should tax groceries out of existence to reduce food prices.
- mark_edward 9y ago
  Keynes did actually say the rentier class should be liquidated. The landlord is the ideal rentier. A grocer is not necessarily a rentier, they add value by providing a service. Rental income is purely a privilege of ownership, received due to a granted title, similar to patent and copyright.
  - branchless 9y ago
    It's okay he's writing on hacker news, where economics goes to die.
  - cgmg 9y ago
    I'll repeat what I said: Keynes never said we should tax people who rent their homes 'out of existence'. To imply otherwise is disingenuous. I find it bizarre that you think renting out your home doesn't count as a 'service'. It certainly is a service by any reasonable definition of the word (including the one economists use).
cgmg 9y ago
> Many airbnb are not people "renting on a weekend when they go on holiday". It's a mini hotel. The former I don't mind, the latter should be taxed out of existence. 1. What percentage of Airbnb users belong to each category? Why do you ignore the former and hope 'they all get their fingers badly burned when rates rise'? 2. You still have provided no argument as to why the latter should be 'taxed out of existence'. > Your comment about groceries is dire. Production of food is elastic. Production of land is not. This is irrelevant to the point you and I were discussing, namely, that restricting the supply of something will not magically lower its price. It works just as well with any other supply-inelastic good or service. > Taxing those who simply try to be middle men to be, yes, a rentier is a good thing. Can you clarify what you mean by 'those who simply try to be middle men'? > So many bad comments on HN that fail to understand elasticity and how prices are set. I'm off. 1. It's a bit ironic for you to make this accusation when you're literally advocating for taxing an entire economic sector 'out of existence'. 2. I made no comments about elasticity of supply. You did.

cgmg 9y ago

Uh... Keynes never said we should tax people who rent their homes out of existence. That idea is quite nonsensical and counterproductive from an economic point of view. It's like saying we should tax groceries out of existence to reduce food prices.

mark_edward 9y ago
Keynes did actually say the rentier class should be liquidated. The landlord is the ideal rentier. A grocer is not necessarily a rentier, they add value by providing a service. Rental income is purely a privilege of ownership, received due to a granted title, similar to patent and copyright.
- branchless 9y ago
  It's okay he's writing on hacker news, where economics goes to die.
- cgmg 9y ago
  I'll repeat what I said: Keynes never said we should tax people who rent their homes 'out of existence'. To imply otherwise is disingenuous. I find it bizarre that you think renting out your home doesn't count as a 'service'. It certainly is a service by any reasonable definition of the word (including the one economists use).

cgmg 9y ago

> Many airbnb are not people "renting on a weekend when they go on holiday". It's a mini hotel. The former I don't mind, the latter should be taxed out of existence. 1. What percentage of Airbnb users belong to each category? Why do you ignore the former and hope 'they all get their fingers badly burned when rates rise'? 2. You still have provided no argument as to why the latter should be 'taxed out of existence'. > Your comment about groceries is dire. Production of food is elastic. Production of land is not. This is irrelevant to the point you and I were discussing, namely, that restricting the supply of something will not magically lower its price. It works just as well with any other supply-inelastic good or service. > Taxing those who simply try to be middle men to be, yes, a rentier is a good thing. Can you clarify what you mean by 'those who simply try to be middle men'? > So many bad comments on HN that fail to understand elasticity and how prices are set. I'm off. 1. It's a bit ironic for you to make this accusation when you're literally advocating for taxing an entire economic sector 'out of existence'. 2. I made no comments about elasticity of supply. You did.