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Comment by tshaddox

3 days ago

> This is basically a maximum wage for landlords

Well sure, but it's good to incentivize looking for sources of wages other than (literally) rent-seeking.

18 comments

tshaddox

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Plasmoid  3 days ago

Renting out property isn't rent seeking.

  • mapontosevenths  3 days ago

    Ok. I'll bite. Why is the thing thats literallly the basis for the term rent seeking not rent seeking?

    • Plasmoid  3 days ago

      Because:

      > Rent-seeking is the act of growing one's existing wealth by manipulating public policy or economic conditions without creating new wealth. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent-seeking)

      Given that renting out property you own doesn't meet this definition it can categorically not be called rent seeking. I'm always shocked that people apply this definition exclusively to property rentals, and not VHS rentals, without seeing the hypocrisy.

      13 replies →

    • nerdponx  3 days ago

      "Rent" has a few specific meanings in economics, but charging a tenant rent isn't necessarily economic rent. The economic rent is more like the difference between your actual monthly rent and some hypothetical idealized market-clearing monthly rent.