[prewett]

Landlords of Adam Smith's England and what "landlord" means in contemporary America are two different things. None of my landlords have charged to use pre-existing natural resources, they charged to use a decidedly non-natural housing structure.

Landlords absolutely create value. One value they create is liquid short-term (yearly, usually) housing. Another value they create is dense housing in desirable areas (such as downtown housing complexes), although landlords are not the only way to do this. They also create smaller housing than single-family homes, and maintenance-free living (again, not the only way to do this).

Now, whether what they charge is commensurate with the value they provide is a different question. My experience with private landlords has been positive and with commercial landlords has been grossly overpriced, lousy construction, and noisy. In my area commercial landlords are priced close to a mortgage, so they are a terrible value unless you are definitely short-term.

(Also, I don't think Xi Jinping popped the real-estate bubble quietly... He was pretty public with your statement, but it was a debt crisis that popped the bubble. It was not quiet at the time, and secondary effects lead to several locally-large protests.)