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lsmeducation | 2 years ago

And I'd even add that shelter is also one of those things we shouldn't just let the free market sort out (as it has been, and we all see how that's been going).

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lukas099|2 years ago

Except the problem is we haven't been letting the free market sort it out. The market is highly distorted by laws which prevent development, which is why prices are so high.

theluketaylor|2 years ago

Exactly. In the developed world the least free market is the real estate market. Free market extremists show up as NIMBYs at local council meetings. Progressives are no better, placing all sorts of rules on development in the name of fairness that only result in even higher prices and less development.

Zoning rules like height restrictions, floor area ratio, lot coverage, setbacks, parking minimums, square footage minimums, lot size minimums, and other zoning restrictions place extreme limits what can be built before we even mention exclusive single family zoning.

conqrr|2 years ago

Wholly agree. Basic necessities Food, Water, Shelter, HealthCare etc should not be left to the whims of the free market. It isn't even hard to fix in the US where land is still plenty but artificially controlled by regulations as opposed to heavily population density places like Japan.

lukas099|2 years ago

It's interesting that you decry the free market, but explicitly agree that regulations (market distortions) are what's preventing abundant housing.

prewett|2 years ago

We've tried public housing in the past, and it hasn't gone so well, so I'm not sure that's a great solution, either.

fragmede|2 years ago

It only took a few generations, but we've gone from America, land of the free and home of the brave, to America: we tried it once in the past and there were problems, so we should give up now and never try again.

mandmandam|2 years ago

Public housing can be amazing, especially when the people involved actually want it to succeed.

Besides - even if there weren't many success stories to draw from, which there are - things can be improved on. Just because the first bicycles kinda sucked, doesn't mean that modern e-bikes aren't amazing. There are similar examples everywhere.

What's going on right now is a horror show. It's stupid, economically and morally.

lukas099|2 years ago

It's a pipe dream to expect public housing to meet the demand for shelter in a political climate like that of the USA. That said, I'll still take as much public housing as I can get in my city.