4 ms·

So we'll all just live in cheap trailers? This is how you make America great again? Has anyone put two and two together to figure out that removing cheap labor

So we'll all just live in cheap trailers? This is how you make America great again? Has anyone put two and two together to figure out that removing cheap labor from the marketplace does not make housing (or most other things) more affordable?

doublerabbit 7mo ago
> So we'll all just live in cheap trailers? This is how you make America great again? Well, you could count it on being a one step in a direction of reintroducing American manufacturing.
toomuchtodo 7mo ago
Are you arguing that citizens cannot do this work while being paid living wages in union jobs? Because I don't believe underpaying undocumented workers is a requirement to achieve a sustainable affordable housing pipeline. Fix permitting [1] and homebuilder monopolies [2] while rebuilding a domestic talent pipeline for the trades [3], because young Americans need jobs they can build a life on [4]. [1] https://www.governance.fyi/p/a-housing-playbook-outline-for-the https://www.governance.fyi/p/a-housing-playbook-outline-for-... [2] https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/its-the-land-stupid-how-the-homebuilder https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/its-the-land-stupid-how-t... [3] https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-launches-philanthropic-skilled-trades-initiative https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/... [4] https://econofact.org/factbrief/fact-check-is-unemployment-for-young-us-workers-the-highest-since-the-pandemic https://econofact.org/factbrief/fact-check-is-unemployment-f...
- jqpabc123 7mo ago
  Are you arguing that citizens cannot do this work while being paid living wages in union jobs? I am arguing this is a very real possibility. This issue is bigger than just "living wages in union jobs". Before workers can find good paying jobs building homes, buyers have to able to afford the homes these high paid workers build. It's really a supply and demand, chicken or egg type problem. It's not easily solved by simply removing cheap labor.
  - toomuchtodo 7mo ago
    I agree removing cheap undocumented labor is going to potentially exacerbate the problem in the short term. I am also mindful that a significant portion of the US economy runs on exploitation of undocumented immigrant labor. If the US remains undesirable to immigrant labor in the short term, the system will be forced towards using domestic labor if houses are to be built. I am anti exploitation, not anti immigrant, to be clear. We cannot kick the can forever on enabling exploitation of labor at scale, imho. In the short term, if you want to make housing more affordable, destroy demand for housing in the US (which this administration has done, unintentionally, by repeatedly damaging the economy with policy). This is faster than building new housing. Happy accidents. You see parallels to this with the Iran conflict oil supply and price shock that is going to force an energy transition very quickly. More US Counties See Population Drops Under Trump’s Immigration Crackdown - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/us-census-shows-more-counties-see-population-drops-in-immigration-crackdown https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/us-census... | https://archive.today/OGwWj https://archive.today/OGwWj - March 26th, 2026 The US Is Flirting With Its First-Ever Population Decline - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-30/trump-immigration-crackdown-could-shrink-us-population-for-first-time https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-30/trump-imm... | https://archive.today/LdA0d https://archive.today/LdA0d - January 30th, 2026 At the same time, there are a lot of sellers of existing inventory out there who simply have not made peace with forward looking real estate price levels. They are married to pandemic market conditions, which is unfortunate. Those who must sell will, and over time, prices will come down to more reasonable price levels as closed sales set comparables for future near term transactions. Over Half of Home Listings Have Been Lingering on the Market For More Than 2 Months - https://www.redfin.com/news/stale-housing-inventory-february-2026/ https://www.redfin.com/news/stale-housing-inventory-february... - March 30th, 2026 Update on the “Lock-in Effect” in the Housing Market: Below-3% & 4% Mortgages Fade Very Slowly - https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/27/update-on-the-lock-in-effect-in-the-housing-market-below-3-4-mortgages-fade-very-slowly/ https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/27/update-on-the-lock-in-effe... - March 27th, 2026 Prices of New Single-Family Homes Drop Further, Inventory of Completed New Homes for Sale Highest since 2009 - https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/19/prices-of-new-single-family-homes-drop-further-inventory-of-completed-new-homes-for-sale-highest-since-2009/ https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/19/prices-of-new-single-famil... - March 19th, 2026 Broadly speaking, the current administration has done far more to cool the economy with dysfunctional policy (tariffs, immigration) than the Fed would be able to do with target rates. If you need workers, they exist domestically (based on unemployment rates and job opening statistics as of this comment). Employ them or go without. (lots of parallels in the US residential real estate market to private equity at the moment; valuations are too high and unreasonable with no buyers, and lots of folks disappointed by fundamentals and reality)

doublerabbit 7mo ago

> So we'll all just live in cheap trailers? This is how you make America great again? Well, you could count it on being a one step in a direction of reintroducing American manufacturing.

toomuchtodo 7mo ago

Are you arguing that citizens cannot do this work while being paid living wages in union jobs? Because I don't believe underpaying undocumented workers is a requirement to achieve a sustainable affordable housing pipeline. Fix permitting [1] and homebuilder monopolies [2] while rebuilding a domestic talent pipeline for the trades [3], because young Americans need jobs they can build a life on [4]. [1] https://www.governance.fyi/p/a-housing-playbook-outline-for-the https://www.governance.fyi/p/a-housing-playbook-outline-for-... [2] https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/its-the-land-stupid-how-the-homebuilder https://www.thebignewsletter.com/p/its-the-land-stupid-how-t... [3] https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/article/corporate-one/press-releases/blackrock-launches-philanthropic-skilled-trades-initiative https://www.blackrock.com/corporate/newsroom/press-releases/... [4] https://econofact.org/factbrief/fact-check-is-unemployment-for-young-us-workers-the-highest-since-the-pandemic https://econofact.org/factbrief/fact-check-is-unemployment-f...

jqpabc123 7mo ago
Are you arguing that citizens cannot do this work while being paid living wages in union jobs? I am arguing this is a very real possibility. This issue is bigger than just "living wages in union jobs". Before workers can find good paying jobs building homes, buyers have to able to afford the homes these high paid workers build. It's really a supply and demand, chicken or egg type problem. It's not easily solved by simply removing cheap labor.
- toomuchtodo 7mo ago
  I agree removing cheap undocumented labor is going to potentially exacerbate the problem in the short term. I am also mindful that a significant portion of the US economy runs on exploitation of undocumented immigrant labor. If the US remains undesirable to immigrant labor in the short term, the system will be forced towards using domestic labor if houses are to be built. I am anti exploitation, not anti immigrant, to be clear. We cannot kick the can forever on enabling exploitation of labor at scale, imho. In the short term, if you want to make housing more affordable, destroy demand for housing in the US (which this administration has done, unintentionally, by repeatedly damaging the economy with policy). This is faster than building new housing. Happy accidents. You see parallels to this with the Iran conflict oil supply and price shock that is going to force an energy transition very quickly. More US Counties See Population Drops Under Trump’s Immigration Crackdown - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/us-census-shows-more-counties-see-population-drops-in-immigration-crackdown https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-03-26/us-census... | https://archive.today/OGwWj https://archive.today/OGwWj - March 26th, 2026 The US Is Flirting With Its First-Ever Population Decline - https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-30/trump-immigration-crackdown-could-shrink-us-population-for-first-time https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-01-30/trump-imm... | https://archive.today/LdA0d https://archive.today/LdA0d - January 30th, 2026 At the same time, there are a lot of sellers of existing inventory out there who simply have not made peace with forward looking real estate price levels. They are married to pandemic market conditions, which is unfortunate. Those who must sell will, and over time, prices will come down to more reasonable price levels as closed sales set comparables for future near term transactions. Over Half of Home Listings Have Been Lingering on the Market For More Than 2 Months - https://www.redfin.com/news/stale-housing-inventory-february-2026/ https://www.redfin.com/news/stale-housing-inventory-february... - March 30th, 2026 Update on the “Lock-in Effect” in the Housing Market: Below-3% & 4% Mortgages Fade Very Slowly - https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/27/update-on-the-lock-in-effect-in-the-housing-market-below-3-4-mortgages-fade-very-slowly/ https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/27/update-on-the-lock-in-effe... - March 27th, 2026 Prices of New Single-Family Homes Drop Further, Inventory of Completed New Homes for Sale Highest since 2009 - https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/19/prices-of-new-single-family-homes-drop-further-inventory-of-completed-new-homes-for-sale-highest-since-2009/ https://wolfstreet.com/2026/03/19/prices-of-new-single-famil... - March 19th, 2026 Broadly speaking, the current administration has done far more to cool the economy with dysfunctional policy (tariffs, immigration) than the Fed would be able to do with target rates. If you need workers, they exist domestically (based on unemployment rates and job opening statistics as of this comment). Employ them or go without. (lots of parallels in the US residential real estate market to private equity at the moment; valuations are too high and unreasonable with no buyers, and lots of folks disappointed by fundamentals and reality)