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Central planning is kind of where we are now already — housing construction is severely restricted, housing costs are subsidized in some areas for some people b
by zamfi 3y ago
Central planning is kind of where we are now already — housing construction is severely restricted, housing costs are subsidized in some areas for some people but not others, etc.
Competitive markets in general are pretty good at matching supply and demand, even when demand is pretty all over the place.
Cars are a great example in the US — sure, there are times when prices go haywire from supply shocks (e.g., due to chip shortages in the pandemic), but outside those no one really complains about a “car crisis”. There are new and used cars available at very many price points, old vehicles get retired and new ones are manufactured, etc.
In housing, one major reason we don’t “just build more” is precisely because of regulation that either prevents housing construction outright or makes it very expensive, nominally in the public interest. We don’t need state owned enterprises paid to construct vacant apartments — we have plenty of companies and individuals willing to build, we just need to let them.
- shuntress 3y agoWe tore up all the train tracks and put down roads and parking lots everywhere. You can't get away from the effects of "central planning" just because you want to pretend the market is perfect.
- zamfi 3y agoI’m not pretending the market is perfect at all. I’m saying what central planning we do have has been very anti-housing development. Your example perfectly supports that!
- shuntress 3y agoMy point is that the world is complex. You can't just ignore external causes/effects for one case but not for the other. You can easily flip everything you said and it makes just as much sense. Look: Central planning is kind of where we are now already — transportation options are severely restricted, transit costs are subsidized in some areas for some people but not others, etc. Competitive markets in general are pretty good at matching supply and demand, even when demand is pretty all over the place. Housing is a great example in the US — sure, there are times when prices go haywire from supply shocks (e.g., due to mortgage bubbles or material shortages in the pandemic), but outside those no one really complains about a “housing crisis”. There are new and used houses available at very many price points, old buildings get retired and new ones are manufactured, etc. In transportation, one major reason we don’t “just build more” is precisely because of regulation that either prevents rail construction outright or makes it very expensive, nominally in the public interest. We don’t need state owned enterprises paid to construct unused trains — we have plenty of companies and individuals willing to build, we just need to let them.
- zamfi 3y agoHmm. I sense you are trying to make a point here, one I might even agree with, but I confess I have no idea what it is.