[overfeed]

> If this stuff stays this expensive/profitable, industry will grow capacity to boost earnings until they overshoot, there's not some grand conspiracy to make you rent everything

Production cartels exist to prevent individual greed from "ruining" it for the rest of the group. OPEC does it in the overtly, memory manufactures do it covertly, and have been convicted of conspiring in multiple jurisdictions, on multiple occasions.

[ericd]

Good point re cartels. But I still don’t think there’s a shadowy group trying to make owning things impossible for normal people as an explicit goal.

[overfeed]

It's not a goal, but a secondary effect. Companies that build long-lasting products for sale to customers will have lower profits than those that rent-out cheaply made goods. Over a multi-decade window, with some bankruptcies, consolidation roll-ups and astute leadership, you can guess which model will win, based on nothing but market forces and imperfect information. The collusion is based purely on P&L performance.