points by SoftTalker 16 hours ago | 0 comments
Why would the landlords not raise their rents just like everyone else? When everything is multiplied by the same factor, nothing changes. You might have 2x the salary but if rent and food and everything else is 2x also, your buying power stays the same.
[–] Timon3 11 hours ago
[–] throwaway85825 15 hours ago
Because rent is set by supply and demand, if you price too high renters will move somewhere else.
But since the wealth gap keeps widening, fewer and fewer workers can afford this, as they get priced out of locations that offer good employment. At the same time the rich keep investing their money into higher-margin industries. Consider that for landlords owning enough housing, building more can have a negative RoI, and they all know that they all know this!
If you don't believe me, think about just how quickly the datacenter boom became reality. All that money was waiting around, and evidently could have been turned into a lot of building activity in a short amount of time.