Housing crisis drives voters to streets – and radical solutions | DW News

Land and bricks cost zero. It&#39;s when the government starts deciding who, where and what to build and starts &quot;helping&quot; that the costs go through the roof.<br>Yeah, but people cannot just build wherever and whatever they wish, I hear you say. Why not? They&#39;ve always done that.

A rental mentality has been pushed onto Western society as the key to mobility. Now, citizens are discovering the true cost of not owning a home. There will always be a rise in property costs driven by investment and opportunity. However, if investors simply store their money in city-center properties, it results in empty buildings, luxury high-rises, and high-priced tourist rentals. Government and local policies should dictate that residential zones remain tourist-free and are actually lived in.

Housing can be solved by simply reducing demand and increasing supply, but something is stopping both from occurring in many countries. However the issue is deeper than most realise. Our economic model is built on infinite growth, mainly population, so the new, larger generation can look after the previous generation and consumption continues to grow. The drop in population growth has thrown a major wrench into that model. Immigration may seem like a quick fix, but it can only work if the immigrants are carefully vetted to ensure they provide the most economic benefit. That does not occur and immigration is as a result making the problem even worst. The answer is the economic model has to change to adapt to a declining and hopefully lower stable population. Japan was on this path, while it this was derailed by Shigeru Ishiba under pressure by big business, but Sanae Takaichi is restoring this trajectory after massive backlash by the citizens. No other major country is attempting to adapt and those who make the most money under the current economic system is doing everything they can to stop any change in the economic model which benefits them. The future is going to be a future where people prepare for their retirement using their own incomes, which Germany does to an extent today, people consume less, technology replaces labour and population declines. The finance bro’s will not like this new world, in the same way they did not like the Japanese market since the 1990’s.