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At a small scale this might work, as in a study with cases=50 and controls=65, in a largish metropolitan area. Can we see the result of an experiment where 100%

At a small scale this might work, as in a study with cases=50 and controls=65, in a largish metropolitan area. Can we see the result of an experiment where 100% of the homeless (say, 3-5% of the population in a given area) are given cash and have to compete for currently available housing? It just becomes a subsidy for landlords at that point. Can you reduce homeless at scale with just cash and without building more housing? If not, why not do the experiment of building a ton of housing and tracing impact on homelessness?

paulryanrogers 3y ago
Likely rent seekers will soak up their gains. We need to build for density and transportation to match.
geysersam 3y ago
I agree we need to build more cheap housing. But one could also ask: why don't we already build more cheap housing? Probably the answer is that nobody's able to pay for it. Making people able to afford cheap housing creates a market for cheap housing makes builders build cheap housing. But sure, cut out the middle man and let the public sector build good cheap housing.
- jackvalentine 3y ago
  I don’t know what it looks like overseas, but in Australia a solid 20% of housing stock was built by governments right up until the 1980s when ‘the market’ was tasked with providing housing and governments withdrew. We don’t build more cheap social housing entirely as a policy choice.
- mcv 3y ago
  Expensive housing is more profitable than cheap housing. Cheap houses tend to get bought by real estate speculators looking to drive up the price of housing. I suspect that much of the housing scarcity is artificial.
clnq 3y ago
That’s also a problem with a lot of the social safety net initiatives like UBI — small scope of the studies. It’s very difficult to say how these measures could affect the macro economy. It would be easier to pass/ratify laws for them if their large-scale effects were clearer. For example, we don’t know if UBI would just result in more inflation. It could inflate prices so much that those ineligible would be in unbelievable poverty — perhaps not being able to participate in the economy at all. Or maybe not. It is very difficult to tell.
extraduder_ire 3y ago
It's not really an experiment, but I read about these dudes on twitter a few years back: http://madhousers.org/shelter http://madhousers.org/shelter Apparently, it works pretty well. I assume there's other groups doing similar things.

paulryanrogers 3y ago

Likely rent seekers will soak up their gains. We need to build for density and transportation to match.

geysersam 3y ago

I agree we need to build more cheap housing. But one could also ask: why don't we already build more cheap housing? Probably the answer is that nobody's able to pay for it. Making people able to afford cheap housing creates a market for cheap housing makes builders build cheap housing. But sure, cut out the middle man and let the public sector build good cheap housing.

jackvalentine 3y ago
I don’t know what it looks like overseas, but in Australia a solid 20% of housing stock was built by governments right up until the 1980s when ‘the market’ was tasked with providing housing and governments withdrew. We don’t build more cheap social housing entirely as a policy choice.
mcv 3y ago
Expensive housing is more profitable than cheap housing. Cheap houses tend to get bought by real estate speculators looking to drive up the price of housing. I suspect that much of the housing scarcity is artificial.

clnq 3y ago

That’s also a problem with a lot of the social safety net initiatives like UBI — small scope of the studies. It’s very difficult to say how these measures could affect the macro economy. It would be easier to pass/ratify laws for them if their large-scale effects were clearer. For example, we don’t know if UBI would just result in more inflation. It could inflate prices so much that those ineligible would be in unbelievable poverty — perhaps not being able to participate in the economy at all. Or maybe not. It is very difficult to tell.

extraduder_ire 3y ago

It's not really an experiment, but I read about these dudes on twitter a few years back: http://madhousers.org/shelter http://madhousers.org/shelter Apparently, it works pretty well. I assume there's other groups doing similar things.