Rising rents are frustrating!! (afford, money, income, limit)

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by djsuperfly

Many say this, including many economists. And, from a common sense standpoint it seems to make sense. But, reality doesn't really bear it out.

https://www.washington.edu/news/2016...mplementation/

There are just as many studies or even more that say it does ...

[djsuperfly]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

There are just as many studies or even more that say it does ...

Great. So we really don't know who's right. Thanks for clearing that up

[mathjak107]

Originally Posted by djsuperfly

Great. So we really don't know who's right. Thanks for clearing that up

Raising wages is only part of overall inflation but we are not talking monetary inflation ....we are seeing demand inflation from shortages in housing ....these kinds of rises in inflation can go down just as easy as go up ...you can’t solve a shortage by increasing wages.. you need more supply or less demand

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by RVFullTimer

Our society is really screwed up when multiple people have to share housing.



I was just reading a real estate ad where the seller wants $55,000. for 2.5 acres in the middle of a desert. This is undeveloped land with just tumble weeds.


You can also raise the minimum wage but this will not help because the prices on everything continues to go up. Inflation is out of control. Last time I went to the store a box of cereal was 6 dollars.


I want to purchase my own acre of land and grow my own food.

You are going to the wrong stores. Go to Walmart of find a lower costs store like Aldi or SavALot or try shopping at the dollar store. If you go to Walmart Frosted Flakes may cost $4 for a medium sized box, but you can buy the Walmart brand for about $1.80. Growing food is not that easy, try finding a food bank for now.

I do agree that our society is really screwed up and now more than ever. Why give billionaires and the richest companies a tax cut when so many are in need of healthcare, food and shelter.

[Eeko156]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

Raising wages is only part of overall inflation but we are not talking monetary inflation ....we are seeing demand inflation from shortages in housing ....these kinds of rises in inflation can go down just as easy as go up ...you can’t solve a shortage by increasing wages.. you need more supply or less demand

This does make sense.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by RVFullTimer

Our society is really screwed up when multiple people have to share housing.
,,,,,,.

The USA is one of very few countries where a single person can have a house or apartment all to himself. It just isn't possible in most countries of the world. The prosperity here has us all spoiled and thinking we deserve privilege.



With the exception of very few countries, single people live in the family home with their parents. Senior citizens move back into the family home. It's normal to have large families in a small house.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Part of the problem with lower cost housing is the cost to government to get permits to build it. The local officials pay lip service to the idea of low cost hosing for low income, but they charge tens of thousands of dollars just to get permission to build.

Then the actual cost of building, supplies and labor is high. It's not possible to build housing cheaply, but then you add on $30,000 of government systems development fees and $10,000 to $15,000 to hook up utilities, and there just is not going to be anything built that can rent for $300 a month.



Housing has always been expensive. It's all well and fun to look back at low prices, but the money to buy at that low price was hard to come by. Yes, my parents bought a tiny little house for $11,000, but my mother was making $25 a month at a full time job. It's not so much that prices have changed as it is that the value of money has changed.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by mathjak107

There are just as many studies or even more that say it does ...

post them.

[LifeIsGood01]

Originally Posted by oregonwoodsmoke

Part of the problem with lower cost housing is the cost to government to get permits to build it. The local officials pay lip service to the idea of low cost hosing for low income, but they charge tens of thousands of dollars just to get permission to build.

Then the actual cost of building, supplies and labor is high. It's not possible to build housing cheaply, but then you add on $30,000 of government systems development fees and $10,000 to $15,000 to hook up utilities, and there just is not going to be anything built that can rent for $300 a month.



Housing has always been expensive. It's all well and fun to look back at low prices, but the money to buy at that low price was hard to come by. Yes, my parents bought a tiny little house for $11,000, but my mother was making $25 a month at a full time job. It's not so much that prices have changed as it is that the value of money has changed.

They can build micro studios to keep people off the streets to house one or two people or a parent and one child. There are people living in RVs that are less than 100 square feet and have a small bathroom. Not a lot of space to walk around, but it has a bed, a sink, a bathroom, you can cook and eat in it, that's all you need. And i'm not saying they have to be that small, but they can be as small as 200 square feet or the size of a motel room. There are people in Hong Kong living in cages on top of each other because that's all they can afford. 6 feet by 2 and a half feet cage with a person above you and a shared bathroom that is also the kitchen.

[FIREin2016]

Originally Posted by djsuperfly

Many say this, including many economists. And, from a common sense standpoint it seems to make sense. But, reality doesn't really bear it out.

https://www.washington.edu/news/2016...mplementation/

Originally Posted by LifeIsGood01

post them.

The definition of inflation is "Too few goods being chased by too much money". If there is more money out there, prices generally rise. Raising the minimum wages doesn't necessarily lead to more money out there.

Some people will work less due to their hours getting cut or they do not want to work as hard. Some jobs will be eliminated to save costs. Some processes will be automated to reduce jobs. So if the total wages paid are nearly the same or less, there is not a bunch more money chasing the same quantity of goods.

On the other side, if a company wants to stay competitive, they may have to reduce prices. A company in a $15 an hour area still has to compete with companies outside that $15 an hour area. Wages make up for a small part of the total input to price. A 20% increase in wages, likely makes for less than a 5% increase in total product cost. Reducing one shift a day, providing the same volume of sales, can more than make up for it.

Much like the Chinese tariffs had no virtually no effect on prices (and brought in hundreds of billions to the US Treasury), often wage increases make no difference. Price elasticity is likely still being determined.

Time will tell.