Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 week ago
Making money from merely owning things that others need and have to pay you to use as they can’t get them otherwise (because you and people like you took them first) - something know in Economics as rent seeking, though it doesn’t apply only to housing - is pure parasitism because that person is producing no value whatsoever, merely extorting money from others because they removed free access to a resource from them.
darreninthenet@lemmy.sdf.org 1 week ago
I’m not disagreeing with you but I’m curious on how the housing would be freely accessible if the landlord hadn’t bought it… are you saying the renter would have otherwise purchased their home?
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
Market rates would be a lot lower if people weren’t allowed to speculate on housing.
darreninthenet@lemmy.sdf.org 1 week ago
They would but do you believe they’ll be low enough that a bank would be prepared to take the on the risk of loaning the money to basically everyone?
JoeBigelow@lemmy.ca 1 week ago
I mean what was the 90’s?
LotrOrc@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yes that’s exactly what was happening