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How do UBI proponents propose to deal with rent-seekers? What's stopping every slumlord in the country from jacking everyone's rent up $1000 / month in response

How do UBI proponents propose to deal with rent-seekers? What's stopping every slumlord in the country from jacking everyone's rent up $1000 / month in response to a UBI subsidy of the same amount? It seems like you could deal with this via a Japanese-style de-zoning (which I like) or nationwide rent control (which I don't). But maybe I'm missing something—what do the UBI experts say?

jumbopapa 7y ago
I don't know how inflation doesn't happen. If you increase the money supply you increase demand for goods.
- eloff 7y ago
  You would obviously get some inflation. How much is anyone's guess. It wouldn't eat up all the UBI, but some percentage of it, certainly.
- djrobstep 7y ago
  Literally any redistributive policy increases demands for goods. That's the whole point!
eloff 7y ago
The same thing that stops them now. If you back the rent up people move to a competitor who's not doing that. Rent is not solely based on how much you can afford. It's supply and demand.
- realbarack 7y ago
  Sure, I guess I worry that whatever mechanism caused rents to increase substantially faster than CPI [0] might be accelerated by UBI. [0] https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2019/04/the-climbing-cost-of-renting/?utm_source=series_page&utm_medium=related_content&utm_term=related_resources&utm_campaign=fredblog https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2019/04/the-climbing-cost-of...
- malandrew 7y ago
  Sure, but that only applies in markets that aren't supply constrained due to myriad bad policies. https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/
malandrew 7y ago
This is the exact question I always ask UBI proponents and no one ever considers it. UBI wouldn't be a problem in places where housing is not supply constrained, but everywhere else it would be. Until rent-seeking activity is addressed, I don't see how UBI is workable. UBI might not even need to be discussed if we first addressed rent seeking activity that contributes to needing something like UBI in the first place. Politicians spend way too much effort on how much people earn and way too little time on how much people spend.

jumbopapa 7y ago

I don't know how inflation doesn't happen. If you increase the money supply you increase demand for goods.

eloff 7y ago
You would obviously get some inflation. How much is anyone's guess. It wouldn't eat up all the UBI, but some percentage of it, certainly.
djrobstep 7y ago
Literally any redistributive policy increases demands for goods. That's the whole point!

eloff 7y ago

The same thing that stops them now. If you back the rent up people move to a competitor who's not doing that. Rent is not solely based on how much you can afford. It's supply and demand.

realbarack 7y ago
Sure, I guess I worry that whatever mechanism caused rents to increase substantially faster than CPI [0] might be accelerated by UBI. [0] https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2019/04/the-climbing-cost-of-renting/?utm_source=series_page&utm_medium=related_content&utm_term=related_resources&utm_campaign=fredblog https://fredblog.stlouisfed.org/2019/04/the-climbing-cost-of...
malandrew 7y ago
Sure, but that only applies in markets that aren't supply constrained due to myriad bad policies. https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/ https://techcrunch.com/2014/04/14/sf-housing/

malandrew 7y ago

This is the exact question I always ask UBI proponents and no one ever considers it. UBI wouldn't be a problem in places where housing is not supply constrained, but everywhere else it would be. Until rent-seeking activity is addressed, I don't see how UBI is workable. UBI might not even need to be discussed if we first addressed rent seeking activity that contributes to needing something like UBI in the first place. Politicians spend way too much effort on how much people earn and way too little time on how much people spend.