Why do peoplle support a free market (no minimum wage) but not a free market in housing? (legal, government)
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Some people say government should not impose a minimum wage on employers, and wages should be set by markets and negotiation. So if I agree to work for an employer at $3 per hour, that should be allowed as a valid contract.
But landlords are not allowed to offer me housing that I can afford on a wage of $3 per hour - housing and zoning regulations drive up the landlord's costs and he must charge higher rents than people earning $3 per hour can afford.
I would support no minimum wage if those housing regulations did not make housing so expensive, I see minimum wage as the price we pay for imposing those regulations on housing.
But landlords are not allowed to offer me housing that I can afford on a wage of $3 per hour - housing and zoning regulations drive up the landlord's costs and he must charge higher rents than people earning $3 per hour can afford.
You need regualtions in the housing industry just like you do for any other product. They are starting to go way overboard but nevertheless minimal safety, code and other regualtions need to be enforced. What a landlord does on their property has a direct impact on their neighbors so comparison to the minimum wage isn't a very a good one. Having said that those higher costs are in part driven by higher minimum wage. The minimum wage is really irrelevant, it's arbitrary number set by the government that is meaningless. If we set the minimum at $100 the market will adjust to those costs including the housing market.
Some people say government should not impose a minimum wage on employers, and wages should be set by markets and negotiation. So if I agree to work for an employer at $3 per hour, that should be allowed as a valid contract.
But landlords are not allowed to offer me housing that I can afford on a wage of $3 per hour - housing and zoning regulations drive up the landlord's costs and he must charge higher rents than people earning $3 per hour can afford.
I would support no minimum wage if those housing regulations did not make housing so expensive, I see minimum wage as the price we pay for imposing those regulations on housing.
What regulations on housing are you speaking of? Are you taking about regulations that impose heating standards, and things like running water?
If you were talking about things like minimum lot sizes or occupancy standards I could see your point.
I've asked this question on some of the minimum wage threads but nobody answered my questions.
So maybe others can offer some insight here?
What do you mean there isn't a free market in housing? Prices go up and down depending on various market conditons or government sabotages.
If one house isn't suitable you look to buy another.
If you offer too little someone else gets the house.
If someone wants too much the house could sit forever on the market.
Yeah, it IS a free market in housing. I have rented, bought, sold....and without any lack of freedoms of mine, or the person I was doing business with. Heck, it's so free that I bought a house from a "for sale by owner" person, and I used a real estate agent, only having to pay her three percent commission for her services.
What regulations on housing are you speaking of? Are you taking about regulations that impose heating standards, and things like running water?
If you were talking about things like minimum lot sizes or occupancy standards I could see your point.
It's apparent the OP does not understand what it costs to build, operate, maintain and pay taxes on an apartment complex or run a business.
There are not regulations that fix prices, just market conditions and supply / demand that establishes what a landlord must charge to make a profit.
Don't want to pay what they charge ? ... move, rent a room or pitch a tent in a federal campground.
What regulations on housing are you speaking of? Are you taking about regulations that impose heating standards, and things like running water?
If you were talking about things like minimum lot sizes or occupancy standards I could see your point.
Yeah, I'm thinking mainly of things exactly like minimum lot sizes and occupancy standards.
I lived for years in a town which had regulatory creep, eventually they imposed a maximum unrelated occupancy of two.
I lived in a separate upstairs of a single family house which was divided into two units. Downstairs was a family of SIX living in two bedrooms. (The two girls shared the second bedroom, then came a boy who slept in the living room, and then another boy who got the basement.)
The family of six was allowed because they were related, but three unrelated could not live in an 8BR house. (Yes, there actually was an 8BR house and the owner wanted to use it as a rental, and the best he could do was convert it into two units.)
More recently, I rented a guest house and when the property was sold, I wanted to buy the guest house but it could not be legally split from the lot since it would have not met the minimum lot size.
You also have to take into account the issue of scope.
Federal zoning laws?
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