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andrewmutzlast Wednesday at 7:56 PM1 replyview on HN

Left-populists and right-populists like to frame issues as being a conflict between the elites and the common man. Banning big banks from owning homes is a perfect example of this.

It's fine to ban big banks from buying homes and wont do damage to the nation, but don't expect it to solve the problem.

High housing prices are due to zoning-based supply restrictions. These are entrenched due to politically active NIMBY voters.

Actually fixing the housing crisis means addressing zoning, but that doesn't fit the elite vs common man narrative so gets ignored by the populists.


Replies

tbrownawlast Wednesday at 8:09 PM

> It's fine to ban big banks from buying homes and wont do damage to the nation

It makes things slightly worse for people who want a non-apartment house but think they might move soon.