5 ms·

I’m still waiting to hear a good explanation for why expensive housing is desirable but expensive food/water is not.

lmm 8y ago
It's good to have an economy in which really good meals that cost 100x or 1000x as much as a normal, good-enough meal are available to those who want them. Likewise it's good to have an economy in which really good houses (which in practice means houses in particular locations) are available to those who want them.
- Atheros 8y ago
  OP said "expensive" but you switched to "good location".
dredmorbius 8y ago
Housing (or rather, real estate) is an asset, a durable store of wealth. Food and water are consumables. Not durable, not wealth stores. There's a great deal that hinges off real estate, especially in finance. https://web.archive.org/web/20190115035057/https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/eDscpi6Kg7L https://web.archive.org/web/20190115035057/https://plus.goog... (And no, I'm not saying that high housing prices are good, but explaining the dynamic which drives them.)
- johnrob 8y ago
  But there are certainly ways a subset of the population could profit from increasing food prices too. The question is a moral one.
  - dredmorbius 8y ago
    The ultimate question to me is how the common weal benefits. A question for which in part the problem is in not having a good measure. Certainly not GDP or mean income, though measures of net happiness or well-being exist. But individual advantage is a false measure.
    - johnrob 8y ago
      BTW - your link from above is great - thanks for posting.
      - dredmorbius 8y ago
        Thanks. Consider that highly speculative, though somewhat plausible.
zawazzi 8y ago
Both supply and demand for housing is geographically constrained which mean that if demand in a local geography goes up, so does the price. This means that the market can be efficient locally even if inefficient globally. Since food and water are not constrained in this way (i.e. can be transported), local price increases are usually due to inefficient distribution (supply chain issues/spoilage) or global supply shortages. This assumes that people consume a relatively consistent amount of food/water.

lmm 8y ago

It's good to have an economy in which really good meals that cost 100x or 1000x as much as a normal, good-enough meal are available to those who want them. Likewise it's good to have an economy in which really good houses (which in practice means houses in particular locations) are available to those who want them.

Atheros 8y ago
OP said "expensive" but you switched to "good location".

dredmorbius 8y ago

Housing (or rather, real estate) is an asset, a durable store of wealth. Food and water are consumables. Not durable, not wealth stores. There's a great deal that hinges off real estate, especially in finance. https://web.archive.org/web/20190115035057/https://plus.google.com/104092656004159577193/posts/eDscpi6Kg7L https://web.archive.org/web/20190115035057/https://plus.goog... (And no, I'm not saying that high housing prices are good, but explaining the dynamic which drives them.)

johnrob 8y ago
But there are certainly ways a subset of the population could profit from increasing food prices too. The question is a moral one.
- dredmorbius 8y ago
  The ultimate question to me is how the common weal benefits. A question for which in part the problem is in not having a good measure. Certainly not GDP or mean income, though measures of net happiness or well-being exist. But individual advantage is a false measure.
  - johnrob 8y ago
    BTW - your link from above is great - thanks for posting.
    - dredmorbius 8y ago
      Thanks. Consider that highly speculative, though somewhat plausible.

zawazzi 8y ago

Both supply and demand for housing is geographically constrained which mean that if demand in a local geography goes up, so does the price. This means that the market can be efficient locally even if inefficient globally. Since food and water are not constrained in this way (i.e. can be transported), local price increases are usually due to inefficient distribution (supply chain issues/spoilage) or global supply shortages. This assumes that people consume a relatively consistent amount of food/water.