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> Government should provide it for its citizens And how do you expect government to pay for that? How do you decide who lives in these houses? It's not that ea
by cyrksoft 7y ago
> Government should provide it for its citizens
And how do you expect government to pay for that? How do you decide who lives in these houses? It's not that easy. Government isn't a magic entity.
- zjaffee 7y agoOne of the biggest costs of new rental construction is financing costs (on a 30 year loan it's often half of the cost). Given that it's cheaper for the government to borrow money than the private sector you can have the government simply build market rate housing, but wouldn't need to charge as much in rent. In this context, the government can essentially be a magic entity.
- cyrksoft 7y agoSo you'll force tax payers to pay for it? Government doesn't have free money. Why should people be forced to pay for the construction of such housing?
- Jotra7 7y agoThe construction costs would be recouped by the renters. Are you being obtuse on purpose?
- zjaffee 7y agoTax payers wouldn't have to pay for anything, the only impact would be potentially on credit ratings of the government and possibly also certain interest rates in a minimal way. You can create market rate housing with government subsidized loans that don't come from tax coffers. Hell, the US federal reserve is technically the backer of hundreds of billions worth of mortgages.
- cyrksoft 7y agoWe know how the mortgage crisis went. Government isn’t a magical solution.
- hashberry 7y agoGovernment bonds. The affordable rent would go towards paying off those bonds. Tenants would be selected by income level and lottery. If cities can build huge stadiums, they can build huge housing complexes.
- cyrksoft 7y agoThe problem is they shouldn't be building stadiums either. You expect a lottery? So random luck will be the way to go.
- zanny 7y agoThere are a lot of avenues for taxes, but right now the most ethical tax any western nation could implement is a carbon tax. Using a carbon tax to guarantee housing to citizens regardless of means, with development planned according to present and forecasted demand, could be this centuries guarantee of clean water or electricity.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y agoThrough a high tax on the unimproved value of the land: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_value_tax
- cyrksoft 7y agoThat will only push prices even higher. The cost will be pushed to the consumer, like every tax.
- DiogenesKynikos 7y agoThat's actually very difficult to do with a tax on the unimproved value of land. The LVT has very interesting properties. In theory, it should drive the cost of land down to zero, eliminate speculation in land, and encourage denser development.