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PaperclipPerfector  6d ago (text post)   2992 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 19, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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My progressive liberal friends steelman it as wage to housing ratio is such that everyone outside of the lower class can eventually own

In practice, I’ve heard this described as pretty much everyone outside of poverty can budget for 3-10 years to afford a down payment and total monthly payment for a duplex, condo, detached house, etc. Currently, the issues are: the number of people near the poverty line has increased massively, and wage growth outside the upper middle class seems stagnant. I’m not an economist, so I’m not familiar the recent stats here, but I agree with my friends on affordable housing being about ratios in essence. Regardless, bad policy can easily hide in the term “affordable housing”.

In this case, I think that if we hold wages constant for the conversation about the price of housing, what distinguishes this from what I think the summary of it is: the aggregate number for the price of housing should go down?

I agree. That is essentially what the argument boils down to.

I prefer the ratio framing, because it frees us from the anchoring bias, which is especially confusing given recent inflation. To have a serious discussion on this issue, we all need to keep the relevant variables in our minds, and given that the complexity of the entire economy is in play here, most people are unable to think seriously about this issue, let alone have a discussion about policy.

The thing is, though, I think if you simply reword what they're saying in this way: "So, uh, you want the aggregate number for the price of housing to go down?" you are unlikely to get a simple "yes". They also want other things, don't know how to process it, and likely do not have a coherent position.

I have yet to meet a progressive liberal in the PNW who has a coherent position here.

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