If I agree to babysit your kids, and then don't show up, I can't reasonably say "well, they're not MY kids, so I'm not responsible". The feds chose to involve themselves in this, so it's not unreasonable that voters would hold them accountable.
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At any rate, I wish knowledgeable people would stop sneering at the electorate, citing an overly simplistic reading of constitutional responsibilities.
@mikepmoffatt Australian here, but we're basically having the exact same debates. And obviously we inherited a very similar system of federal parliamentary democracy from the British.
There's some additional ones that we have that I don't think you guys share, like negative gearing. (Basically, our federal government gives people a tax break if they lose money while renting out an Investment property. You can imagine how that distorts our property market.)
But there are some more big factors that I think might be common.
The first is: Which level of government is best placed, in terms of resources, to fix the problem?
Which level of government /could/ provide a lot of funding for new rail projects that could support new TODs?
Which government has the most access to resources that could be used to set up a public property development agency?
Which level of government could fund the most public housing, if it wanted?
The second is: Which level of government is responsible for regulating the banks?
Particularly relevant, given (at least here, and I'd imagine also in Canada) its banks that provide housing loans.
And third: Which level of government could disincentivise land banking by introducing a nationwide land tax?
Australia had such a national land tax from 1910, but it got repealed in 1953: https://www.pbo.gov.au/about-budgets/budget-insights/budget-explainers/tax-mix/brief-history/1901-to-1950
Let’s consider two other factors. Flat wages, push housing that’s undergoing constant inflation out of reach over overtime.
The enthusiasm with which the banking sector to offer loans is directly related to housing inflation. The math for this is pretty straightforward. Since the number of houses on market is relatively inelastic, the chief source price increases. Is the size of the mortgage on offer for housing.
Banks make more money off of larger loans. They also make a lot more money over time with higher interest rates, but also the length of the loan term *Now 30 year loans typically means they collect twice as much or more money as the principal amount lent.
The terms and conditions apply to the secondary mortgage market, where banks sell mortgages to other investors determines the kinds of loans they will accept. Longer mortgage terms mean higher prices as well.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
Pretty much, but imho this can be generalized and simplified.
The elites run the money printers hot - doesn't matter what kinds of loans we are talking about - one way or another the debt gets rolled over and is increasing ever faster.
This fresh money is used by the rich and anyone who gains access to the newly printed money to stash it away in something that they hope will keep the value and one main category of assets is housing inflation
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
This will never stop - no matter what will happen, money printers continue to print more and more money and those who get the money have fewer and fewer options - and housing is kinda like "high-end art" in the eyes of those who want to preserve their wealth.
I think if there is any way to boil things down and agree on this as the main overriding reason and know all other effects or reasons are marginal compared to it, its much easier to find solutions
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You and I have such a different theories of money that we could never see eye to eye. You believe that money as a commodity even if it’s an electric form of pseudo commodity is the only way to prevent inflation or exploitation.
It’s about economic and political decision-making power. The money system flows from that not the other way around.
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
i see no historical evidence that inflation was ever prevented. for 100-150 years the world gets more productive. if those gains were equally distributed, then everyones wealth or purchasing power would grow, so having even just 0% inflation target means ppl do not participate, but 2% takes away from them. ...we usually have way more these days and hidden inflation on top, see. house prices.
even the education teaches 0-2% is "good".
...but it gets worse
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
i dont believe in commodity or pseudo commodity. i believe in a socially enforced contract and that is what ppl running code that encodes the rules can achive and they can discuss and change the rules if there is consensus to upgrade/change... absolutely fundamentally different from e.g. "gold", which will not change its properties no matter what ppl think.
You still ignore the very basic of politics.
Idealists generally do
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
i'm not sure what is that supposed to mean, would be happy if you could explain.
It might be helpful if you ponder the meaning of socially enforceable contract, and then consider power structures.
You seem to believe that a magical contract means equality and justice and all that, but if you study enough history, you understand how idealistic that is.
You are sprinkling techno, pixie, dust, and saying that’s it surmounts power.
Silvio Gessell’s chief insight into the nature of money is that money as it is, is it has superior advantage over all other commodity. Crypto doesn’t change that.
The solution is to strip it of its uniqueness, so that those who sell $100 of whatever are under the same imperative to buy $100 of whatever so that the other people who must also sell to survive has a buyer.
This is how you close the monetary circuit
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
i am familiar with silvio gesell, but while he diagnosed a problem (interest bearing money and hoarding) and speculation on assets if you will, the solution he proposed is tempting but flawed.
1. ppl dont hoard money and demand interest, but banks print it for their amigos
2. rich ppl store their wealth in assets not in money - only mainstream ppl might actually literally hold money and thus be disadvantaged
and money that rusts is already inflation 🤷♀️
@GhostOnTheHalfShell @aj @mikepmoffatt
non of any of the proposed measure help or make any sense if banks can print money and they can and do and will.
whether trunp now or anyone else before... see epstein files.
Also check the "monetary expansion" over time.
The elites and their assets are too big to fail and they print ever more money to keep it that way.
it is socialism for the rich in its purest form essentially.
and again e.g. bitcoin is a grassroots social contract - not commodity