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> average UK house price reached £226,071 Aren't house prices an aggregate of 'owned outright' via cash, inheritance, debt repayment and 'loaned against' in th

> average UK house price reached £226,071 Aren't house prices an aggregate of 'owned outright' via cash, inheritance, debt repayment and 'loaned against' in the form of bank loans against real estate? There's been a dramatic inflation in housing debt, worldwide, that first precipitated the financial crisis a decade ago, and that continues to overhang economies worldwide. It was observed a long time ago that 'the debtor is servant to the lender.' You can't look only at private household wealth, you have to look at bank balance sheets as well. I bet if you include bank balance sheets, you can find a 'small group accumulating so much money.'

Apes 8y ago
If banks are accumulating wealth, which may very well be our reality, then this wealth would be reflected in the equity value of the bank itself. Thus, this wealth would still be reflected in the wealth of private households who had ownership in the bank. This would apply even if the banks were international, since the owners could still be citizens of the UK.
- TooBrokeToBeg 8y ago
  > If banks are accumulating wealth, which may very well be our reality It is. > this wealth would be reflected in the equity value of the bank itself It is. > this wealth would still be reflected in the wealth of private households who had ownership in the bank. It is. What do you mean with all these "if" statements that are quantitatively true? Even stock markets are aggregators of wealth (focusing gains on a small population).
  - Apes 8y ago
    The point is that it doesn't matter who the accumulator is, only if the accumulation is to a detrimental degree. The Gini coefficient in the UK is already lower than most, and reducing it probably won't solve the homeless crisis there. I suspect the bigger contributor to the homeless problem in the UK is the cost of living increasing to an unsustainable level for a large portion of the population.
    - pjmorris 8y ago
      My point is that increase in the housing part of the cost of living is directly tied to the wealth created by the extremely relaxed mortgage lending environment of the last 15-20 years. If that debt were extinguished, house (and rent) prices would be lower for a relatively large population, and wealth would be destroyed for a relatively small (but powerful) number.
- pjmorris 8y ago
  All true. However, UK bank share ownership doesn't necessarily correlate with UK citizenship. And, maybe more importantly, stock ownership is skewed heavily to a relative few, e.g. (US data) [0]. [0] http://www.nber.org/papers/w24085 http://www.nber.org/papers/w24085

Apes 8y ago

If banks are accumulating wealth, which may very well be our reality, then this wealth would be reflected in the equity value of the bank itself. Thus, this wealth would still be reflected in the wealth of private households who had ownership in the bank. This would apply even if the banks were international, since the owners could still be citizens of the UK.

TooBrokeToBeg 8y ago
> If banks are accumulating wealth, which may very well be our reality It is. > this wealth would be reflected in the equity value of the bank itself It is. > this wealth would still be reflected in the wealth of private households who had ownership in the bank. It is. What do you mean with all these "if" statements that are quantitatively true? Even stock markets are aggregators of wealth (focusing gains on a small population).
- Apes 8y ago
  The point is that it doesn't matter who the accumulator is, only if the accumulation is to a detrimental degree. The Gini coefficient in the UK is already lower than most, and reducing it probably won't solve the homeless crisis there. I suspect the bigger contributor to the homeless problem in the UK is the cost of living increasing to an unsustainable level for a large portion of the population.
  - pjmorris 8y ago
    My point is that increase in the housing part of the cost of living is directly tied to the wealth created by the extremely relaxed mortgage lending environment of the last 15-20 years. If that debt were extinguished, house (and rent) prices would be lower for a relatively large population, and wealth would be destroyed for a relatively small (but powerful) number.
pjmorris 8y ago
All true. However, UK bank share ownership doesn't necessarily correlate with UK citizenship. And, maybe more importantly, stock ownership is skewed heavily to a relative few, e.g. (US data) [0]. [0] http://www.nber.org/papers/w24085 http://www.nber.org/papers/w24085