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By Artis Shepherd

President Trump’s recent remarks, that he wants to keep housing prices artificially high to protect the “wealth” built into people’s homes, ignore the economic dislocation that occurs because these policies require inflating the money supply.
50 sats \ 3 replies \ @optimism 1h

I think that the "social" issue is:

  • if you cause housing prices to drop people could get called due to your policies = you look bad
  • if you cause housing prices to rise entry stays unaffordable = you look bad
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That's why politicians avoid letting the market run its course.

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48 sats \ 1 reply \ @optimism 1h

Which is odd because from where I'm sitting that's the only way out. Just shut up, do nothing and when the market does market things and Karens come Karening at you, you say "I don't understand why you're all making such a mess of our perfect housing market"

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Ironically, it would be easier for progressives to embrace the market on this: i.e. "We care about affordability for regular people, not the portfolio values of white millionaires."

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Homeownership wealth is not a fallacy, but Trump's remarks about wanting to keep house prices is at direct odds with his goals of housing affordability.

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The Fallacy
All of the aforementioned bad ideas rest on a flawed assumption—that housing is a financial investment. It isn’t, and never was. Housing is an asset that is essentially a consumption good. It is consumed each day by living in the house and all that entails.

Not a strict fallacy, I agree, but people miscategorize housing.

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I'd argue that the structure is a depreciating durable good, but the right to use the land could be considered an investment.

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That's fine, but is it how people think about their homes?

I'd say the expectation is that it's an appreciating durable capital good.

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