There’s also another insidious reason this is happening - remember Claus Schwab’s mantra - ‘own nothing, be happy’? They’re pushing the middle class to the brink with all these government regulations from the federal government right down to the councils. 😡
"The modern Australian approach to housing policy appears to be based on a simple formula. If something works, regulate it. If it survives regulation, tax it. And if it survives taxation, regulate it again".
One minor clarification: the above approach applies to everything in Australia, not just housing!
Fantastic debut piece! If Labor models anything, it's how to fritter away money and nothing else. Their 2% post-budget rent increase was pulled out of thin air. The solution seems so simple - an anathema for politicians to grasp.
Excellent article. This is one of the clearest and most accessible explanations of the rental crisis that I have read in years.
It succeeds because it focuses on the one thing politicians and commentators too often ignore: incentives matter.
If you tax, regulate and discourage the people who provide almost all of Australia's rental housing, you should not be surprised when fewer people are willing to provide it.
That isn't ideology. It's economics.
This article explains in plain English what generations of economists from Adam Smith through to Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek understood intuitively: individuals respond to incentives and markets respond to prices.
The tragedy is that Australia appears determined to learn this lesson the hard way.
With investor confidence collapsing, approvals falling, construction slowing and population continuing to grow, the mathematics are becoming frighteningly simple. We are potentially staring at an increase of thousands of Australians entering housing insecurity and homelessness every month if supply continues to fall behind demand.
Most importantly, articles like this help move libertarian ideas from abstract philosophy into practical public policy.
Libertarianism is often caricatured as theory. Housing demonstrates that it is simply realism.
🏡 Encourage investment and more housing gets built.
🏡 Punish investment and less housing gets built.
The market isn't being cruel. It is simply responding to incentives.
Every article like this helps Australians understand that prosperity is not created by slogans, envy or political theatre, but by incentives, investment and production.
That is how libertarian ideas gain acceptance.
That is how public opinion changes.
And ultimately, that is how Australia becomes a more prosperous, affordable and humane place to live.
The tragedy of politics is that our most competent people are not in a position to run the nation.
Most politicians own multiple rental properties, e.g. Albanese, Taylor, and former Dutton.
There’s also another insidious reason this is happening - remember Claus Schwab’s mantra - ‘own nothing, be happy’? They’re pushing the middle class to the brink with all these government regulations from the federal government right down to the councils. 😡
"The modern Australian approach to housing policy appears to be based on a simple formula. If something works, regulate it. If it survives regulation, tax it. And if it survives taxation, regulate it again".
One minor clarification: the above approach applies to everything in Australia, not just housing!
Fantastic debut piece! If Labor models anything, it's how to fritter away money and nothing else. Their 2% post-budget rent increase was pulled out of thin air. The solution seems so simple - an anathema for politicians to grasp.
Excellent article. This is one of the clearest and most accessible explanations of the rental crisis that I have read in years.
It succeeds because it focuses on the one thing politicians and commentators too often ignore: incentives matter.
If you tax, regulate and discourage the people who provide almost all of Australia's rental housing, you should not be surprised when fewer people are willing to provide it.
That isn't ideology. It's economics.
This article explains in plain English what generations of economists from Adam Smith through to Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek understood intuitively: individuals respond to incentives and markets respond to prices.
The tragedy is that Australia appears determined to learn this lesson the hard way.
With investor confidence collapsing, approvals falling, construction slowing and population continuing to grow, the mathematics are becoming frighteningly simple. We are potentially staring at an increase of thousands of Australians entering housing insecurity and homelessness every month if supply continues to fall behind demand.
Most importantly, articles like this help move libertarian ideas from abstract philosophy into practical public policy.
Libertarianism is often caricatured as theory. Housing demonstrates that it is simply realism.
🏡 Encourage investment and more housing gets built.
🏡 Punish investment and less housing gets built.
The market isn't being cruel. It is simply responding to incentives.
Every article like this helps Australians understand that prosperity is not created by slogans, envy or political theatre, but by incentives, investment and production.
That is how libertarian ideas gain acceptance.
That is how public opinion changes.
And ultimately, that is how Australia becomes a more prosperous, affordable and humane place to live.