A new report shows California has the highest poverty rate in the US, alongside Louisiana, and rates have shown little improvement.
Despite the abundant wealth in the state – more billionaires live in California than anywhere else in the US – in 2024 about 7 million people, or 17.7% of residents, could not afford to cover their basic needs. In 2021, California’s poverty rate reached a historic low of 11%, but as pandemic-era policies came to an end, rates surged in the state and across the US, according to the report from the California Budget and Policy Center released last week.
I think we’re ideological allies but this is misinformed.
Only very few economists favour rent control: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_regulation because it generally decreases the amount of available housing and has other deleterious effects. I say this as someone who benefitted personally from rent control.
Generally, increasing the supply of housing lowers its cost: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Housing_crisis There is discussion in there about zoning being a problem too.
I do think that we still need some policies to curb runaway housing asset appreciation (e.g. higher taxes on non-owner occupied housing).
Legit too drunk to really converse on this in a satisfying way right now, both agree and disagree with things you said here. I intend to come back and readdress what you’ve said
Respect.