Housing Is a Labor Issue: Land owners are taking all the wage gains
While I agree that landlords are vampires, that here is wrong:<p>&gt; But there is a stack of research a mile high that shows that the number one thing we need is a lot more housing supply<p>There are <i>millions</i> of units vacant everywhere, be it the US [1] or Germany [2]. The <i>last thing</i> the world needs is more housing construction, especially with the insane CO2 footprint of anything involving concrete.<p>The problem is that rural areas (&quot;flyover states&quot;) have been left to rot: no reliable electricity grid, no public transport, basic infrastructure from grocery stores over schools to basic healthcare has closed down, no high-speed Internet which is a necessity for modern life - and particularly the latter is a major contributor in rural flight, as employers move towards more urban areas, which sets off a vicious cycle as the people follow the jobs, and the remaining infrastructure becomes too expensive to maintain. That this neglect is a direct cause of people losing trust in democracy is just the icing on the cake (and again, this <i>also</i> contributes to rural flight as LGBT and women flee far-right areas in droves).<p>We need to invest into rural areas again.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nar.realtor&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;real-estate-news&#x2F;16-million-homes-vacant-in-us" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nar.realtor&#x2F;magazine&#x2F;real-estate-news&#x2F;16-million...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.demografie-portal.de&#x2F;DE&#x2F;Service&#x2F;Blog&#x2F;191028-Wohnungsleerstand-in-Deutschland-Wo-sind-die-Herausforderungen-besonders-gross.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.demografie-portal.de&#x2F;DE&#x2F;Service&#x2F;Blog&#x2F;191028-Wohn...</a>