this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2024
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I suspect that when the government implements things like universal basic income, rents will increase with that amount the next day.
I suspect that if the government were to implement UBI, this would be a concern they thought of and would have things within the same breath as the UBI itself to address it. It only comes up every single time UBI is mentioned.
Rent control is brought up as the solution. If it was that easy to implement, government could do it right now too.
It is easy to implement, it's hard to enforce because not everyone is going to be forthcoming. My city is rent controlled, passed by a healthy margin, but not all landlords are self reporting. The protections still stand, renters needing to present to the renters department at city hall.
But your point stands in more conservative areas which would be inundated with campaign donations, ads, and just overall lack of faith in functioning government.
Some argue of universal basic utility instead.
A huge majority of politicians are landlords. They’re more represented than mining, tech, forestry, oil, agriculture, or any other big industry lobby group.
Rents will rise, but it’s by design.
This doesn't happen where UBI has been put into practice, and only happens in theory if you assume housing demand is perfectly inelastic. That's why it's a common suspicion.
This why we need more supply