[cjbgkagh]

It's not that simple. If a poor person makes zero dollars how much of the reduced cost item could they now afford?

We have a massively distorted economy driven by debt financialization and legalised banking cartels. It leads to weird inversions. For example as long as housing gets increasingly expensive at a predictable rate the housing becomes more affordable instead of less as banks are more able to lend money. The inverse is also true, if housing were to drop at a predictable rate fewer people would be able to get a mortgage on the house so fewer people could afford to buy one. Housing won't drop below cost of materials and labor (ignoring people dumping housing to get rid of tax debts as I would include such obligations in the cost of acquisition). Long term it's not sustainable but long term is multi-generational.

[kjkjadksj]

Fwiw in places like parts of the midwest housing is below cost of labor and materials. An existing house might be $70k and several bedrooms at that. You just can’t get anything built for that even if you build it all yourself.

[cjbgkagh]

I intended to make a weaker claim of ‘in general long run / maintainable’ circumstances and should have done so.

Many low cost areas have bad crime problems, there is another little phenomenon where the wealthy by doing a poor job in governance can increase the price of their assets by making alternative assets (lower cost housing) less desirable due to the increase in crime.

[kjkjadksj]

Not really the case for much of the midwest. These are low crime areas generally. Working class population is not nearly so rent burdened so less pressure towards making ends meet in other ways. Gang activity is effectively nill unlike placed where you find ms13 written on walls. Homeless people amount to probably a small few dozen visibly homeless if that, and you really need to look to find them.

[cjbgkagh]

I gather that such places do exist it would help if you gave an example. When I did travel to middle america there seemed to be a general drug problem and associated thefts. Perhaps there could be a copper theft map which could be used as a proxy for crime.

[kjkjadksj]

Three Cs. Wisconsin. Minnesota. Pittsburg. Not gary IN.

The thing is with these sorts of midwestern cities. The nicest neighborhood in the area, you know the one with the 5 bed ornate 100 year old mansions with the nicest school district, you can get one of those for barely half mill maybe even less.

[charcircuit]

It depends. There are people and businesses today who even make negative dollars each month, but they still purchase things every month.

[carlosjobim]

> Housing won't drop below cost of materials and labor

Only if every person born needs to have a brand new house constructed for them.

Not if - you know - people die and don't need a house to live in anymore.

But considering how it's been the past 20 years, I'm starting to expect that a lot of the current elder generation will opt to have their houses burnt down to the ground when they die. Or maybe the banker owned politicians will make that decision for them with a new policy to burn all property at death to "combat injustice". Who knows what great ideas they have?