Re:Oregon passed sweeping housing crisis laws
by AnthonyMouse on Saturday July 20, 2019 @11:06AM
(#20486174)
> It’s not theoretical at all, and Walmart does dick you around, albeit indirectly. They dick around the supplier and force them to make cuts in quality to meet the price.
People are aware of this, and purposely choose products that are 80% as good for 20% of the cost. Other people shop at Whole Foods and Apple. None of them is ripping you off. They all provide options that you knowingly and willfully choose over your other options.
> And if Target/Amazon/Dollar General weren’t around, there’s no reason they wouldn’t increase prices and pad their margins.
The comparison to landlords being that if one of them had a monopoly on local housing they could charge really high prices. But that seems pretty fantastical considering that a local housing monopoly hasn't happened basically anywhere and would presumably yield antitrust scrutiny besides.
> In a landlord situation, their cost of goods is so small that they can afford to sit on an empty apartment while prospective renters need to put a roof over their family or business.
The cost of goods is the cost to buy housing (and the opportunity cost of the interest you could have had on that money), plus that of maintaining the property. If that is so cheap then why is anybody renting?
People are aware of this, and purposely choose products that are 80% as good for 20% of the cost. Other people shop at Whole Foods and Apple. None of them is ripping you off. They all provide options that you knowingly and willfully choose over your other options.
> And if Target/Amazon/Dollar General weren’t around, there’s no reason they wouldn’t increase prices and pad their margins.
The comparison to landlords being that if one of them had a monopoly on local housing they could charge really high prices. But that seems pretty fantastical considering that a local housing monopoly hasn't happened basically anywhere and would presumably yield antitrust scrutiny besides.
> In a landlord situation, their cost of goods is so small that they can afford to sit on an empty apartment while prospective renters need to put a roof over their family or business.
The cost of goods is the cost to buy housing (and the opportunity cost of the interest you could have had on that money), plus that of maintaining the property. If that is so cheap then why is anybody renting?