Once again, Republicans are demonstrating that “property rights” is nothing more than a slogan to be used to attract votes. They are proposing legislation that will “crackdown” on corporate landlords through heavy taxation or similar penalties.
The right to property means the freedom to produce, use, and trade material values, including housing. Imposing penalties on landlords—any landlord—interferes with this freedom.
Supporters of such legislation argue that corporate landlords have driven up housing costs. Indeed, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott wrote that
corporate large-scale buying of residential homes seems to be distorting the market and making it harder for the average Texan to purchase a home. This must be added to the legislative agenda to protect Texas families.
Abbott and his fellow hypocrites ignore the fact that government intervention of this type is the fundamental cause of the housing crisis. From zoning to rent control, from highway policy to monetary policy, it is government meddling in the economy that has made housing unaffordable for many Americans. For details, see my book, The Affordable Housing Crisis: Causes and Cures (available on Amazon).
The proposed crackdown on corporate landlords is simply a variation on the policies that have been tried and failed for more than a century. Politicians continue to believe that their policies will somehow succeed this time. In truth, they are doomed to failure and will only make the situation worse, just as they have in the past.
But politicians and pundits can’t see this because they embrace the same flawed framework that has driven housing and related policies since the early twentieth century. I call it the Progressive Framework because it came to prominence during the Progressive Era.
The Progressive Framework always starts with some group, such as renters, homeowners, or people of color, as the standard of value. Policies are evaluated on the basis of the alleged benefits to a particular group. The broader context—the consequences to non-members of the favored group, as well as related issues—is conveniently ignored.
While the Progressive Framework originated with the political Left, today’s conservatives embrace it with the same, and sometimes more, zeal than Leftists. The proposed crackdown on corporate landlords is one example.
In this case, the favored group is families, and particularly young families. They are finding it difficult to buy a home, and so Republicans are proposing more restrictions on production and trade. They are demonstrating, once again, that property rights are nothing more than a slogan.