alt Hacker NewsNo, the problem is the government has artificially restricted housing supply and this has driven up prices. It's not a market failure, it's a government failure.
No, the problem is the government has artificially restricted housing supply and this has driven up prices. It's not a market failure, it's a government failure.
I think it's not helpful to talk of "government failure" as long as democratic principles are upheld.
You could call it "voter failure" instead. But I'd argue that many of those voters are just acting in their own best interest, because they already own a home and more construction/housing supply does not help them at all.
Some part you might be able to blame on the system, because I'm pretty confident that owners of at least one home are politically overrepresented literally everywhere (just look at home ownership percentages of politicians compared to citizens).
I personally think a lot of this is just the natural consequence of an aging population, where young-people-concerns are basically "underrepresented" by design.