The solution to the rental crisis isn’t some heavy-handed policy that tears away the incentive to rent out property in the first place. The solution is basic economics.
The older I get the more certain I am that Bastiat's 'That which is seen and that which is unseen' is the one economic text we can be sure will always be relevant, the insights are so simple and yet they trip up even the smartest people. Bastiat brilliantly illustrates why the best policymaker is the hesitant policymaker, and if a policy is made, in most cases it must be a policy that undoes some previous policy. This should cover 99% of a policymakers work. The 1% should be temporary policies responding to emergencies like wars or natural disasters.
Capetown is effectively an Island of somewhat better governance (not good by any means), not just in SA but on the sub-continent (south of the Sahara). We know that all such Islands have expensive property and rents (Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong etc) so while the measures you propose will help, there's a limit. The only way Capetown could compensate is if it controlled it's own economic policies plus safety and security so it can pursue policies that rapidly increase wages. Absent that, it will have to suffer first world property prices with 3rd world wages and unemployment.
….I do….but the real question is are you actually ready to hear it 🤔…. because most people aren't…and then I just waste my time trying to explain….which I'm no longer doing.
If you have a solution, state it. Advocacy shouldn't care about if the opposition is going to listen to you or not. What matters is taking that chance.
The older I get the more certain I am that Bastiat's 'That which is seen and that which is unseen' is the one economic text we can be sure will always be relevant, the insights are so simple and yet they trip up even the smartest people. Bastiat brilliantly illustrates why the best policymaker is the hesitant policymaker, and if a policy is made, in most cases it must be a policy that undoes some previous policy. This should cover 99% of a policymakers work. The 1% should be temporary policies responding to emergencies like wars or natural disasters.
Capetown is effectively an Island of somewhat better governance (not good by any means), not just in SA but on the sub-continent (south of the Sahara). We know that all such Islands have expensive property and rents (Mauritius, Singapore, Hong Kong etc) so while the measures you propose will help, there's a limit. The only way Capetown could compensate is if it controlled it's own economic policies plus safety and security so it can pursue policies that rapidly increase wages. Absent that, it will have to suffer first world property prices with 3rd world wages and unemployment.
That's the hard truth.
Maybe it's time to stop extorting each other for permission to share a planet none of us actually own through capitalism period.
Rent abolishment!!!
Do you have suggestions for an alternative system that would work better?
….I do….but the real question is are you actually ready to hear it 🤔…. because most people aren't…and then I just waste my time trying to explain….which I'm no longer doing.
If you have a solution, state it. Advocacy shouldn't care about if the opposition is going to listen to you or not. What matters is taking that chance.
Well after stating it for close to 20 years…and being disrespected for it…I don't just jump through everyone's hoops when they tell me to.
…..also if you were ready you'd have already known.
Also I stated part of it in my first reply.
So stop wasting my time…or get blocked
You do realise that you're choosing to comment, right? I'm not wasting anyone's time. I'm not mind controlling you.