3 ms·
> How do you resolve disputes between rival claimants to a building? What I am envisioning here is a world where abandoning a property grants rights to the nex
by hi_im_miles 7y ago
> How do you resolve disputes between rival claimants to a building?
What I am envisioning here is a world where abandoning a property grants rights to the next person to occupy it, rather than allowing the original proprietor to act as a permanent parasitic middleman between maintenance and occupants. In the case of conflict, I would imagine it would carry out similarly to how all disputes get resolved. With a state you can navigate through a legal system, and without one you have market solutions such as Coasian bargaining, social sanction, arbitration, etc. This doesn't mean that someone gets to sleep in your bed if you haven't used it since you woke up, but approaching these kinds of problems require recognizing property as the dynamic and fluid social relationship that it is. How do you deal with a family member eating your leftovers in the fridge?
> If we can't own improvements we don't live in, well, who will be building new apartments and condos? You will end up with a huge market inefficiency, with lots of low-capital people with demand for housing and lots of capital owners who could theoretically supply that demand by building commercial residential property but will not because they legally cannot own and profit from any construction.
I don't buy this. It doesn't follow that eliminating one vector for rent-seeking eliminates all incentive to satisfy demand, as there is still profit to be made from production!