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> unless real estate prices plummet to levels affordable to young couples without rich parents, you won't see birthrates in the west go up without heavy immigra

> unless real estate prices plummet to levels affordable to young couples without rich parents, you won't see birthrates in the west go up without heavy immigration from developing nations. Ironically heavy immigration itself pushes up housing prices by increasing demand, and lowers wages by increasing supply: https://www.independent.ie/business/jobs/not-enough-migrants-arriving-to-keep-pay-down-central-bank-38356212.html https://www.independent.ie/business/jobs/not-enough-migrants...

ChuckNorris89 5y ago
Well that was my point exactly, but unfortunately, it's impossible to argue in European politics about the negative consequences of uncontrolled immigration without being branded right wing, or racist or a Nazi, so such debates aren't even discussed publicly in the first place.
- mensetmanusman 5y ago
  This still surprises me. It’s clearly one of the reasons for the rise of the right. People aren’t oblivious to the fact that every decision has positives and negatives, and that on balance people try to choose what they think will be most positive. By ignoring or refusing to discuss the negatives, you intuitively grow resentment somewhere…
- pydry 5y ago
  And yet Brexit happened anyway.
  - jevoten 5y ago
    [flagged]
    - PKop 5y ago
      No but that's just a illustration of the terrible political leadership in the UK, and the impotence of "democracy". Certainly the voters who supported Brexit wanted less immigration.
analyte123 5y ago
Right, maybe it's like an oscillating system where high real estate prices depress family formation, a generation or two passes, real estate becomes cheaper because a third of the population is gone, people can afford homes again, then they have more children, and so on. Obviously heavy immigration breaks this natural cycle. Financializing your country’s real estate and selling it all to foreigners and investors probably exacerbates the problem, assuming anyone who made these policies actually considers this a problem.

ChuckNorris89 5y ago

Well that was my point exactly, but unfortunately, it's impossible to argue in European politics about the negative consequences of uncontrolled immigration without being branded right wing, or racist or a Nazi, so such debates aren't even discussed publicly in the first place.

mensetmanusman 5y ago
This still surprises me. It’s clearly one of the reasons for the rise of the right. People aren’t oblivious to the fact that every decision has positives and negatives, and that on balance people try to choose what they think will be most positive. By ignoring or refusing to discuss the negatives, you intuitively grow resentment somewhere…
pydry 5y ago
And yet Brexit happened anyway.
- jevoten 5y ago
  [flagged]
  - PKop 5y ago
    No but that's just a illustration of the terrible political leadership in the UK, and the impotence of "democracy". Certainly the voters who supported Brexit wanted less immigration.

analyte123 5y ago

Right, maybe it's like an oscillating system where high real estate prices depress family formation, a generation or two passes, real estate becomes cheaper because a third of the population is gone, people can afford homes again, then they have more children, and so on. Obviously heavy immigration breaks this natural cycle. Financializing your country’s real estate and selling it all to foreigners and investors probably exacerbates the problem, assuming anyone who made these policies actually considers this a problem.