Now livestreaming from our DC office: a discussion of the political economy of land and housing—with a focus on alternatives like community land trusts and social housing—featuring @L__Macfarlane, @peterjgowan, and @JarridGreen (cc @NEF @PplPolicyProj)
@L__Macfarlane @peterjgowan @JarridGreen @NEF @PplPolicyProj .@L__Macfarlane: 60% of global economic assets is real estate, approximately $217 trillion
.@L__Macfarlane: A growing fault line through our society: increases in land values are great for property owners, but create higher rents and less income for the rest of us
.@L__Macfarlane: Credit being created in today's liberalized economy is being used to invest in real estate in a land-credit feedback cycle, not in the real economy
.@L__Macfarlane: high returns offered by investment in property pushes up prices for housing while misallocating resources away from more productive and socially useful needs
.@peterjgowan: two ways to house your society—1) small tweaks around the edges of a private housing system to (maybe) help those left behind—with heavy state support for private home ownership or 2) social processes that are designed to deliver truly affordable housing for all
.@peterjgowan this second path—social housing—involves a public option in the housing market, which can significantly constrain the displacement/gentrification pressures in the rest of the sector that remains private
.@peterjgowan: in a private-dominated housing sector, construction of new units follows a boom/bust pattern (without driving down prices when supply is expanded!); in a housing system with a heavy social component, investment is countercyclical & prices are stabilized
.@JarridGreen: Part of the answer to the crisis of affordability and displacement are strategies of community control/ownership of land and housing like community land trusts, limited equity cooperatives, and resident owned communities.
.@JarridGreen: examples like @oakclt show how community control of land is larger than just (permanent) affordability—also includes community power to preserve/create community space, support neighborhood businesses
