Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by chii 744 days ago
> intentionally keeping units vacant.

they should be free to do so. They have a holding cost, which they're going to have to pay.

I mean, why don't wheat farmers intentionally hold sales of wheat to force the price higher?

2 comments

So you don't think that landlords should be regulated because the solution is more supply, but also think that landlords should be allowed to intentionally restrict supply?
Just off the top of my head: 1) there could be legal issues with it 2) the logistics of organizing such an operation at a scale that would impact price enough to offset the risk would be…extraordinary 3) wheat isn’t an inelastic good, people will find substitutes. There is a reason that when things become commodities, there is downward pressure on price…the thing that becomes a commodity just isn’t that novel anymore. The wheat farmers would essentially need to corner the market.