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No. The literal definition of the economic drag on value creation is "rent seeking". Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the pro

No. The literal definition of the economic drag on value creation is "rent seeking". Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord.

xvedejas 7y ago
Even if you don't rent out your residence (you live there), you're still collecting implicit rent. It's the value you would have been paying to be a renter, society loses because you exclude others from your residence. And every residence has to be owned by someone. You cannot escape rent seeking unless you're homeless or live in a jurisdiction with a "Land Value Tax".
- rwnspace 7y ago
  That's an incredibly thin argument (society loses because you don't let someone pay rent to live in your home). You have to deny the existence of second-order intangibles which seed first-order tangible economic value such as community and social cohesion. If you like, ownership-based behavioural incentives. A 'stake in society'.
  - xvedejas 7y ago
    You misunderstand my argument entirely. The problem isn't that society loses because you don't let someone pay rent in your home. Society loses because you don't let someone else live in your home for free, but you do let yourself do that. This is the value you extract from owning the land, which nobody else can extract.
    - Retra 7y ago
      Who lives in their home for free? I didn't know that was possible. Children maybe.
    - rwnspace 7y ago
      Apologies, I misunderstood your exact meaning. But I think you misunderstood my point that 'society loses' is a non-sequitur in any case.
WillPostForFood 7y ago
What if you build a house, and then rent it? Solution or problem?
taneq 7y ago
And screw all those people who aren't in a position to buy, right?
badpun 7y ago
> Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord. Well, presumably he built something, and then exchanged that something for a home - the exact sequance being: 1. Do some work for someone. 2. Get paid money for results of that work. 3. Use that money to buy a house.
sokoloff 7y ago
In economics "rent seeking" has nothing at all to do with the core activities of being a landlord, even though landlords do literally "seek rent".
fbonetti 7y ago
> No. The literal definition of the economic drag on value creation is "rent seeking". No, that's not the literal definition of "rent-seeking", not even close. I really wish this term had a different name because I see people on HN misusing it on a daily basis. "rent-seeking" is a specific term in economics that refers to entities colluding with the government to distort the market in their favor. The taxi medallion system is a classic example of rent-seeking. Owning property and leasing it out, whether it's land, vehicles, apartments, or machinery, is NOT rent-seeking. > Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord. Would you prefer a world in which people are not allowed to rent apartments?
- areyouseriousxx 7y ago
  > In public choice theory and in economics, rent-seeking involves seeking to increase one's share of existing wealth without creating new wealth [1] > The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Robert Shiller, is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
- sokoloff 7y ago
  > I really wish this term had a different name because I see people on HN misusing it on a daily basis. I find this mis-use of the term a useful and unambiguous signal that the commenter is not fully versed on the topic. (cf. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19707924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19707924 )
  - areyouseriousxx 7y ago
    So Robert Shiller is not fully versed on the topic, in your opinion? > The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Robert Shiller, is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking

No. The literal definition of the economic drag on value creation is "rent seeking". Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord.

xvedejas 7y ago

Even if you don't rent out your residence (you live there), you're still collecting implicit rent. It's the value you would have been paying to be a renter, society loses because you exclude others from your residence. And every residence has to be owned by someone. You cannot escape rent seeking unless you're homeless or live in a jurisdiction with a "Land Value Tax".

rwnspace 7y ago
That's an incredibly thin argument (society loses because you don't let someone pay rent to live in your home). You have to deny the existence of second-order intangibles which seed first-order tangible economic value such as community and social cohesion. If you like, ownership-based behavioural incentives. A 'stake in society'.
- xvedejas 7y ago
  You misunderstand my argument entirely. The problem isn't that society loses because you don't let someone pay rent in your home. Society loses because you don't let someone else live in your home for free, but you do let yourself do that. This is the value you extract from owning the land, which nobody else can extract.
  - Retra 7y ago
    Who lives in their home for free? I didn't know that was possible. Children maybe.
  - rwnspace 7y ago
    Apologies, I misunderstood your exact meaning. But I think you misunderstood my point that 'society loses' is a non-sequitur in any case.

WillPostForFood 7y ago

What if you build a house, and then rent it? Solution or problem?

taneq 7y ago

And screw all those people who aren't in a position to buy, right?

badpun 7y ago

> Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord. Well, presumably he built something, and then exchanged that something for a home - the exact sequance being: 1. Do some work for someone. 2. Get paid money for results of that work. 3. Use that money to buy a house.

sokoloff 7y ago

In economics "rent seeking" has nothing at all to do with the core activities of being a landlord, even though landlords do literally "seek rent".

fbonetti 7y ago

> No. The literal definition of the economic drag on value creation is "rent seeking". No, that's not the literal definition of "rent-seeking", not even close. I really wish this term had a different name because I see people on HN misusing it on a daily basis. "rent-seeking" is a specific term in economics that refers to entities colluding with the government to distort the market in their favor. The taxi medallion system is a classic example of rent-seeking. Owning property and leasing it out, whether it's land, vehicles, apartments, or machinery, is NOT rent-seeking. > Be a part of the solution and build something. Do not be a part of the problem and become a landlord. Would you prefer a world in which people are not allowed to rent apartments?

areyouseriousxx 7y ago
> In public choice theory and in economics, rent-seeking involves seeking to increase one's share of existing wealth without creating new wealth [1] > The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Robert Shiller, is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking
sokoloff 7y ago
> I really wish this term had a different name because I see people on HN misusing it on a daily basis. I find this mis-use of the term a useful and unambiguous signal that the commenter is not fully versed on the topic. (cf. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19707924 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19707924 )
- areyouseriousxx 7y ago
  So Robert Shiller is not fully versed on the topic, in your opinion? > The classic example of rent-seeking, according to Robert Shiller, is that of a feudal lord who installs a chain across a river that flows through his land and then hires a collector to charge passing boats a fee (or rent of the section of the river for a few minutes) to lower the chain. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking