Seattle Times Shocker: Supply and Demand Exists!
Here is the headline from a Seattle Times story last week: Seattle Area Rents Drop Significantly…. Wait. Is this the real Seattle Times? The one that consistently heralds the latest increase in average rents as “skyrocketing?” At first I thought this was clever satire. Had the Seattle Times hired deconstructionist performance artist Charles Mudede to […]
Perverse Sentimentalism Part 3: How We Might Get Rent Control
You’ll hear a lot of people hand wave the notion that Seattle will get rent control anytime soon. Even the legislative proponent, Representative Nicole Macri, says she thinks it will be a struggle. But here’s how it might play out. My job is to worry about the worst case scenario. Here’s the worst scenario I […]
New York Example: What Happens When Housing Supply Increases? Prices Go Down!
Remember my frustrating conversation with a legislator about there not being any guarantee that builders and landlords wouldn’t just pocket the difference if costs created by regulation went down? I pointed out that if costs went down and supply went up competition would ensue and prices would fall; it’s called the invisible hand. Well here’s […]
