3 ms·

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but saying there’s no benefit to building new housing because there’s not a fortune to be made, well that just seems like capitalis

by dvdhnt 8y ago

I’m not saying you’re wrong, but saying there’s no benefit to building new housing because there’s not a fortune to be made, well that just seems like capitalist-apologizing. We’ve built a system where humans are expected to somehow accrue interest at the whim of the capitalist overlord. The soul of rent control is pretty important, so maybe rent control needs to evolve? I’m hard pressed to defend it completely because it seems like dancing around the fundamental problem of capitalism not being in alignment with the best interests of society.

AnthonyMouse 8y ago
> I’m not saying you’re wrong, but saying there’s no benefit to building new housing because there’s not a fortune to be made, well that just seems like capitalist-apologizing. It's just math. The land costs a million dollars, the construction costs $500K, therefore the net present value of the future rents (less property taxes, insurance, etc.) has to be $1.5M, or the construction does not occur. Rent control puts the marginal construction project below the break-even point. > We’ve built a system where humans are expected to somehow accrue interest at the whim of the capitalist overlord. The soul of rent control is pretty important, so maybe rent control needs to evolve? The soul of rent control is bad math. If you want lower rents, adopt policies that encourage housing construction until rents are suitably low. At which point, who needs rent control?