alt Hacker NewsI'm as pro capitalism as it comes but private equity should not be allowed to operate in the consumer housing market. They can develop and sell houses but cannot hold is my point of view.
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IMO the main problem with them is that actual competition isnt really possible. Most of the time, you just can't develop newer/denser housing where they are taking over neighbourhoods, so no real competition is possible which allows them to distort the market for their own gains.
Not to be pedantic, but this would make you not so "pro capitalism as it comes". The ability to develop and sell houses, but not hold them (in service of rent-seeking) runs contradictory to the very core tenant of capitalism, which is private property and free markets. Socialism and supply/demand-markets are not mutually exclusive; it sounds like you're more amenable to a socialist or mixed-market system than you give yourself credit for.
More broadly, housing cannot be relied upon as an investment vehicle and remain affordable. Whether it's private equity or others is a moot point. The perverse incentive is there in that housing appreciates in value because of artificial scarcity. It's a 1-1 relationship.
I don't think this is contingent at all on the capacity to buy and hold, but on policies that limit building and financial instruments related to housing. The 30-year mortgage even. So now similar to the case with Social Security and public pensions abroad, politicians are playing a game of hot-potato not wanting to be the ones to have to make changes and upset the large aging voting bloc. Similar, too, because it's a generational wealth transfer.
Many items through market exchange have gone down in price over time owing to increases in efficiency (see: coffee makers). This can't be blamed on markets qua markets. It's adversarial policy that harms young workers.
Same. I remember growing up in the 90s, after the fall of communism, hearing that capitalism beat communism because in capitalism you can own things.
MFW I now live in capitalism and can't afford to own anything.
It won't change anything. Private equity is always a nice scapegoat, but it just exploits the same market forces as any other economic actor.
If you ban private equity, it's going to be mom&pop redevelopment companies doing the same. I give you an example of Vancouver. It banned foreign purchases: https://www.kelownarealestate.com/blog-posts/canadas-ban-on-...
The impact was literally non-existing. The prices continued to grow as Vancouver 's housing density keeps increasing.
Another market where PE is incompatible with human life is healthcare. It becomes a race to maximize profit at the expense of worse patient outcomes and worse healthcare availability for all. They close redundant, less profitable hospitals (usually rural). Same with pharma: they jack the prices on common meds and only develop profitable ones, not effective ones or needed ones.