> Is it any wonder that "you're dumb, building more will lower prices" hasn't been a persuasive argument to people who've seen construction push up prices aroun

> Is it any wonder that "you're dumb, building more will lower prices" hasn't been a persuasive argument to people who've seen construction push up prices around them for decades without the promised lowering of prices yet? You're making an assertion about causality that often gets thrown out, but typically without being backed up. Certainly construction often correlates with prices rising. However, the arrow of causation could run in either direction. It's possible that construction itself increases demand in the area enough to raise prices. However, it's also possible that increased demand (due to agglomeration effects, etc) raises prices and results in construction to meet that demand, which lowers prices in the area relative to what they would have been without the construction. Most research I'm aware of that has attempted to determine the causality of that relationship has determined that it's the latter. For example: https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/do-new-housing-units-next-door-raise-your-rents https://www.fanniemae.com/research-and-insights/do-new-housi... This doesn't necessarily mean that construction will lower housing prices, but it does mean that without it prices will be even higher, because the construction is attempting to meet new demand that's already there regardless.