The People vs. Democracy: Why Our Freedom Is in Danger and How to Save It by Yascha Mounk

Author:Yascha Mounk
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: History, Modern, 21st Century, Philosophy, Political, Political Science, Political Ideologies, Democracy, History & Theory, Public Policy, General, Political Freedom, Commentary & Opinion
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2018-01-15T01:08:42.496000+00:00

Housing

No politician who runs for office in Norway or the United States, in Greece or Canada could get elected on the promise of raising the price of bread and butter. But when it comes to another commodity that citizens need to lead a decent life, the promise to keep its price at exorbitantly high levels does not seem especially strange: housing. In fact, though there has been significant variation from country to country, governments in democracies all around the world have explicitly tried to drive up the price of housing. Sadly, this is one of the few areas in which they have, by and large, succeeded.

Especially in the world’s biggest cities, the explosion of housing prices has been staggering. In New York, for example, the average rent on an apartment in the 1960s was $200 per month, and a square foot of residential real estate cost $25 to buy. By the 2010s, average rent had grown to $3,500 and a square foot sold at $1,070. Similarly, in London, the cost of an average home has gone up from £55,000 in 1986 to £492,000 in 2014.35

This increase in housing prices has had a huge effect on the living standards of people in those cities, especially among the young. Tenants in London, for example, now spend a staggering 72 percent of their income on rent, making the exploding cost of housing by far and away the most important reason why their living standards have not improved in decades.36

The staggering cost of housing in metropolitan centers also has a pernicious impact on people who are unable to pay those exorbitant rents. As the process of gentrification advances, many people who grew up in urban areas are pushed out—and wind up being cut off from both their support networks and the economic opportunities offered by major cities.37 Many people who have grown up in less affluent rural areas, meanwhile, remain permanently locked out of the most productive regions in the country, making it even more difficult for them to better their lot.

In short, the exorbitant cost of housing is now one of the most important reasons for the stagnation of living standards across North America and Western Europe. If defeating populism hinges in part on making citizens more optimistic about the future, a radical reorientation of housing policy is urgently needed.38

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