[roenxi]

I'm going to make the point that this is comparing an actual warts-and-all reality to a hypothetical "someone very reasonable will just get it right" system - the reality will never measure up to an ideal. That out of the way...

Public policy is not a magic wand that creates something from nothing. Governments that believe that tend to be called socalist and the worst case scenario for socalist governments tends to be much worse than for capitalist governments. Public policy can allocate resources from people who make money to people who make less money, but it is a lousy tool for trying to create more housing when there is not enough housing. A much better policy would be to remove government restrictions that actively prevent or disincentivise people from building housing/renting it out. That is to say: less controls on rent and construction.

> 4.8 million households in the U.S. depend on Section 8 to afford rent. These are direct subsidies to landlords to house these people.

I don't like welfare either, but it is certainly a step up from rent controls. Rent controls are an actively destructive policy that work directly against getting everyone in a house. Welfare is only questionable incentive structure and some welfare is appropriate.