Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

economist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

141–150 of 817 posts

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#141

Post by axg11 »

datacruncher01 wrote: post #132

It's a simple problem, we turned housing into an investment. Now everyone who owns a home is incentivized to ensure their investment is maximized and that results in a lot of NIMBYism. The simple solution is we need more housing in cities and suburbs. How we get there is an exercise that's taken on by local housing authorities and they are not incentivized to solve the problem. That's because they work for voters who…

When was housing not an investment? Throughout history, people have always wanted to drive up the value of their land and properties. There are still plenty of places in the US/Canada/UK where housing is cheap. The problem is that nobody wants to live in those areas.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#142

Post by mistrial9 »

datacruncher01 wrote: post #132

It's a simple problem, we turned housing into an investment. Now everyone who owns a home is incentivized to ensure their investment is maximized and that results in a lot of NIMBYism. The simple solution is we need more housing in cities and suburbs. How we get there is an exercise that's taken on by local housing authorities and they are not incentivized to solve the problem. That's because they work for voters who…

> States are going to have to step in and override cities that aren't being effective

surprise - this has already been signed in California; and amended, and further amended..

https://www.capradio.org/articles/2017/09/29/brown-brings-ho...

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#143

Post by randomdata »

pochekailov wrote: post #48
rco8786 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Definitely not that simple. To use your same argument though, it’s not just homeowners - it’s homeowners and aspiring homeowners . Which is nearly everyone.

The longer I live the more I am finding the universe is working on extremely simple few principles; their relations create complexity. Aspiring homeowners will never become homeowners if the price is exclusionary. Take SF: with average salary of 75-79K, the apartment cost starts from 1.1M. Only 8% has salary > than 100K, that makes the remaining 92% the "aspiring" homeowners. They will stay "aspiring" for the rest of…

Houses are ultimately purchased with wealth, so labour value input isn't all that significant.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#144

Post by mrep »

t_mann wrote: post #28

> But households then need to rein in spending to repay their loans Right now it looks like we may be about to witness something else: inflation is picking up, and if wages even just remotely track the increase in consumer prices (not assured ofc, but conceivable in a time of low unemployment), then those loans and their monthly instalments will actually make up a smaller proportion of household income (especially fo…

> especially for those borrowers with fixed-rate loans

Which is like 90% of US mortgages [0].

[0]: https://www.financialsamurai.com/adjustable-rate-mortgages-a....

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#145

Post by r_hoods_ghost »

refurb wrote: post #56
strikelaserclaw wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

the fatal flaw in capitalism imo, a lot of wealth gets created which is good for everyone but eventually, a lot of that wealth also gets held by a smaller and smaller minority while the rest try to desperately compete over whatever is left over. After a certain point a certain portion of any new wealth created somehow trickles up to the capital owning class (think your VC's, fund owners, other rich investors), this c…

But this isn’t true. Median income and median wealth has been on a general upward trend for over a century. I mean, how do you think the Western world become so wealthy? How did China raise tens of millions out of poverty. Capitalism!

Capitalism is like democracy, it is the worst system possible... except for all the others.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#146

Post by rowanG077 »

29athrowaway wrote: post #107
rowanG077 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So your point is we need to keep people in such shitty situations they won't want to bring kids into this world?

My point is that the system is overcapacity, that's the reality you like it or not. If you want to watch Netflix and forget about what's happening outside, that's your choice. But we are completely destroying this planet in every way. There are lots of mouths to feed every day depending on systems that are not sustainable and may collapse. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjsThobgq7Q If you go camping and have limited…

Keeping people in misery is not the solution. Population control is much less ethically challenging IMO.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#147

Post by gitrog »

pochekailov wrote: post #26
kubb wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you think there exists a political option that will give more rights to the renters? Do you think there's a correlation between having more leisure time (living from rent) and having more ability to do politics? Do you think blaming the renters for not voting is the most constructive way of going forward, or does it reinforce the status quo?

Q1: Yes, there is. Once a professional politician sees more activity from renters, they will include the renter's interests into their agenda Q2: Yes, obviously there is a positive correlation. This is exactly why renters need to fight: stakes are against them. Current status quo is in favor of homeowners; it will not be possible to change it while being passive. Renters and homeowners have conflict of interests, the…

I'm sorry but your answer to Q1 is extremely naive. There is no way that activity from renters will even remotely approach the power of those who own property in politics. The latter group can lobby and make campaign donations, the former can't exactly...

The best thing you'll get is a campaign promise to do something about it, but not much action. The only way something will actually be done about it is if the effects of it become economically catastrophic or people start rioting en masse.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#148

Post by lesuorac »

powerhour wrote: post #100
dwater wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

55% of Americans have hourly jobs, most of which do not control their hours. There are many polling places, particularly in underserved communities, where it can take multiple hours to get to vote. Elections are nearly always held on workdays. So if you are a single parent working an hourly wage job from 8am to 6pm and the polls close at 7pm, would you vote? The voting process is difficult in America for some people…

Unfortunately even states with all-mail voting don't see a large increase in turnout. For example, WA state has had all-mail voting since 2011 and here's the numbers: https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voter-participation.aspx

While I'm a big fan of vote by mail, it's not the only thing. Having early voting options would also help that hypothetical person as they can vote in person on a day they don't work.

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#149

Post by Cederfjard »

axg11 wrote: post #141
datacruncher01 wrote: post #132

It's a simple problem, we turned housing into an investment. Now everyone who owns a home is incentivized to ensure their investment is maximized and that results in a lot of NIMBYism. The simple solution is we need more housing in cities and suburbs. How we get there is an exercise that's taken on by local housing authorities and they are not incentivized to solve the problem. That's because they work for voters who…

When was housing not an investment? Throughout history, people have always wanted to drive up the value of their land and properties. There are still plenty of places in the US/Canada/UK where housing is cheap. The problem is that nobody wants to live in those areas.

So do you have a solution in mind?

Re: Housing is at the root of many of the rich world’s problems (2020)

#150

Post by [deleted] »

axg11 wrote: post #141
datacruncher01 wrote: post #132

It's a simple problem, we turned housing into an investment. Now everyone who owns a home is incentivized to ensure their investment is maximized and that results in a lot of NIMBYism. The simple solution is we need more housing in cities and suburbs. How we get there is an exercise that's taken on by local housing authorities and they are not incentivized to solve the problem. That's because they work for voters who…

When was housing not an investment? Throughout history, people have always wanted to drive up the value of their land and properties. There are still plenty of places in the US/Canada/UK where housing is cheap. The problem is that nobody wants to live in those areas.

[deleted]
Post reply on HN