Antitrust critics say that homebuilding monopolies are the real culprit of America’s housing woes. I looked into some of their claims. They don’t hold up.
  • WatDabney@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    Weird that he spends all that time and effort arguing against a position I’ve never seen anyone take.

    I mean… there are undoubtedly people who take it - if nobody else, the ones he cites - but still, I would think that if it was worth all of that effort, it would be common enough that I would’ve seen it.

    Cynically, I have to say that it looks to me like an attempt to backhandedly support his own pet theory - that zoning regulations are to blame - through a false dichotomy.

    Far and away, the most common position I’ve seen is not that there’s an oligopoly in home building, but in home ownership - that corporations and investors are outbidding other buyers, and thereby driving up prices, then holding onto and renting those homes, decreasing the available supply of homes for sale and thus further driving up prices.

    And that’s not even addressed.