[Tiktaalik]

On this YCombinator discussion forum of all places we should understand why an influx of foreign capital is terrible for a city.

In short the implications of spiking land values cascade down to entrepreneurs and it becomes significantly more difficult to start a business.

For example in Vancouver over the last decade we've seen this trend in action in the bar/restaurant space, as live music venues have closed, independent spots vanished, and consolidation occurred. The only survivors are the established well capitalized 'upscale casual' players like the Donnelly group, Cactus Club etc.

At this point the notion that a working class person would startup their own small business in Vancouver is laughable. Similarly it's crazy talk that a young person right out of university could go indie and create their own app or game when rents and the cost of living are as high as they are in Vancouver.

It doesn't have to be this way, but the housing crisis has been manufactured by established wealth rent seeking and the financialization of housing.