[valkea]

Foreign capital investment is great, so beneficial to the economy.

The problem is with the housing market. Perverse subsidies, out of date zoning laws, and a lot of nimby based lobbying. Fix these things and I doubt anyone, including foreign investors, would be parking capital in property and just leaving it unused.

[r00fus]

And that's why you use a tool like taxation to modify behavior to encourage positive outcomes.

[valkea]

Taxation shouldn't be used as a tool to modify behavior. That's actually the exact opposite of good tax policy. Taxes should be broad based, with few exemptions, to raise the needed revenue while minimizing side effects.

The distortions in housing markets are often partially caused by tax policy, and those areas should be addressed (tax deductions for mortgage interest for example). Other than that, it's best to actually deal with the root problem: outdated zoning laws.

[stuaxo]

Taxation is a great tool for changing behaviour in many places.

[adamiscool8]

That's a very parochial view. Foreign capital investment is just a form of economic colonialism, unless properly managed to mitigate the risks it introduces.

[imtringued]

Building more houses is great. Buying the same houses for increasingly higher prices is not that great.