Morons In Charge
Christian Britschgi writes at Reason that New York legislators have introduced a bill to cancel rent for 90 days for tenants affected by coronavirus closures.
This, to me, reflects the hatred some have for people who have built a business, own something of value, have money. It also suggests an inability to think thoughts -- come to conclusions down the line -- of the slightest complexity.
Britschgi helps them out with the first line in this excerpt of his piece. And he's also right about the solution -- which, no, is not suspending mortgage payments, too, which also comes with downstream consequences:
Building owners ... argue that they too have bills that don't go away just because a tenant is out of work.Suspending both rent and mortgage payments, however, just shifts these costs further down the line to banks and financial institutions who lent to landlords. If the return on their real estate investments goes to zero, lenders could also be in trouble.
Shifting costs from one interest group to another doesn't eliminate costs, it just changes who ends up bearing them. The rent freeze being proposed is a risky game of hot potato.
There's obviously a public health rationale for keeping people in their homes right now, particularly in New York City, which is experiencing the most severe COVID-19 outbreak in the country. There's also a sound case that the government should compensate people it puts out of work.
The best way to do that, however, would be through federal income assistance that allows everyone to continue to pay their bills. Cash assistance has the added benefit of transparency, as the costs of these closures will be on budget for everyone to see. Eviction moratoriums and rent cancelations, however, are more opaque, overly complex, and could create problems down the road.
And while we're on the subject of dribbling moronhood:
Do you have to be an idiot to get elected in New York City? https://t.co/BQu5gmOPgF
— Amy Alkon (@amyalkon) March 26, 2020
Boris now, apparently
Crid at March 27, 2020 4:17 AM
Do you have to be an idiot to get elected in New York City?
It doesn't seem to be a meaningful bar to office. Remember: don't settle for the lesser of two weasels.
I R A Darth Aggie at March 27, 2020 7:08 AM
I know it would have been very difficult for me as a landlord had rent been suspended three months. I originally bought the place to live in, but very quickly I got married and moved. So I rented it out, and it covered my mortgage payments. If I didn't receive the rent, I wouldn't have the money to pay the mortgage and it wasn't that I wouldn't be making a profit... I'd be bleeding money.
That said when I think of rents most cities I've lived in, 1200 doesn't go very far. Of course, the people who are paying more rent usually have the jobs you can telecommute from in a pandemic.
I'm thinking of my friend who is a nanny (that's how I know her, from the park, I'm a SAHM). I don't think my neighbor is paying her during this time. But she still has almost a grand in rent every month. I hope she is OK.
NicoleK at March 27, 2020 7:34 AM
Boris now, apparently
Crid at March 27, 2020 4:17 AM
Half the US and the UK has or had this. Most just can’t get a test.
It is incredibly contagious, but not as lethal as they feared in a healthy population.
Isab at March 27, 2020 8:20 AM
It's weird when people say that, as if any suffering short of horrible, festering death was not worthy of consideration.
Even if borne by uncountable millions.
Crid at March 27, 2020 8:44 AM
It's weird when people say that, as if any suffering short of horrible, festering death was not worthy of consideration.
Even if borne by uncountable millions.
Crid at March 27, 2020 8:44 AM
I was absolutely horribly sick for over three weeks. Probably not the worst illness I have had, but because I am so much older than the last time I had anything like this a good deal longer and more unpleasant. (My mother told me I got the flu in the 57 pandemic and was quite ill)
My Health is worthy of consideration, but I fear in the grand scheme of things, not by anyone outside my immediate family,
If public figures like Boris and the Prince of Wales survive this without hospitalization , it might be the sort of thing that relieves some of the panic and fear that getting this is a death sentence,
Isab at March 27, 2020 9:44 AM
Again, "not a death sentence" isn't the standard of well-being to which we aspire. (Nor is mere 'lifetime scarring of the lungs,' etc.)
Crid at March 27, 2020 10:48 AM
Well..
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez_Official_Portrait.jpg
Sixclaws at March 27, 2020 11:28 AM
Somebody wished upon a monkey's paw for Zoomers to undo the damage Millennials have done to the nations:
https://twitter.com/TectonixGEO/status/1242628347034767361
Sixclaws at March 27, 2020 11:29 AM
At first glance, the lunar new year parade tweet is a fabrication. "In 2020 Lunar New Year falls on January 25, the date of the second new moon after the winter solstice."
https://www.nycgo.com/articles/lunar-new-year-guide-nyc
Curtis at March 27, 2020 1:30 PM
Correction, the parade was on February 9th. The tweet is definitely a fabrication.
https://www.nycgovparks.org/events/2020/02/09/21st-chinatown-lunar-new-year-parade-and-festival
Curtis at March 27, 2020 1:33 PM
as if any suffering short of horrible, festering death was not worthy of consideration...Again, "not a death sentence" isn't the standard of well-being to which we aspire.
We should shut down the country and force everyone to stay home from October through April every year. It would save tens of thousands of lives.
Ken R at March 27, 2020 2:25 PM
Isab Says:
"If public figures like Boris and the Prince of Wales survive this without hospitalization , it might be the sort of thing that relieves some of the panic and fear that getting this is a death sentence,"
I think you are confusing "panic and fear" with an understanding of the sober reality of the current situation.
The death rate for this illness is not extremely high... it is highly infectious though and easily transmittable.
4 days ago I made the following prediction:
"The US is on track to exceed 100K within 7 days."
We are now above 100k infections.
By the same token we are presently at ~1,500 deaths.
We are on track to exceed 5,000 deaths within 7 days.
Those are just the numbers.
Longer term models extrapolate ~80,000 deaths within the united states overall, but that is fuzzy and has more variance the further out we go.
That "Boris and the Prince of Wales survive this without hospitalization" has no baring on the mathematic reality of the lives that are expected to be lost.
Artemis at March 27, 2020 3:06 PM
> It would save tens of
> thousands of lives.
Sarcasm untethered to any principle.
Crid at March 27, 2020 3:35 PM
I mean, what do you want to have happen?
Is this outcome the best that could have been?
Crid at March 27, 2020 6:51 PM
Proposing a bill is not the same as passing it. Make a fuss and it will die.
Dennis at April 2, 2020 11:02 AM
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