In a message dated 7/15/03 6:19:35 AM Pacific Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> I was recently in San Francisco, and had a conversation with a cab > driver about the cost of housing. In SF they have fairly strict rent > control which keeps housing affordable, and encourages longer term > tenancy. Rents can go down, but can't go up more than a small > percent. I see some potential classist ghettoization, but have we > ever looked at why this would or wouldn't work in the Twin Cities? > > Eric Meininger, Lowry HIll East > Keith says; I wonder how Dr. Meininger earns his money? And after earning it where does he invest any surplus above his immediate needs? Do his surplus earnings go into investment vehicles that have a 'fairly strict cap" on what his return can be? Does he believe the City of Mpls. should ultimately control, and cap, what a doctor can charge a patient? And further, that such City meddling would be good for the provision of medicine? Or does he simply believe that keeping "...fairly strict rent control which keeps housing affordable" is good, and fair, and ultimately beneficial, to all participants in another business; that he may not be deeply involved in? Cars are very expensive, should the City require lease control there. Cub foods charges up to $2.59 a pound for peaches; should there be peach control in town? Could we get Cub to invest in town if there was peach control? The City will enforce peach control if enough good doctors demand it. How far do you want to go? I am not nosey. Nor do I wish to make the good Doctor, a List poster, the topic of my post. I simply wish to reflect on his desire to add one more government bureaucracy to restrict a free market place where I do business. And his interest in limiting my possible return on investment by limiting the rent I can offer to charge. And his flirting with the belief that artificial control of the market place will benefit participants; or even just the renters. Who would know better then a doctor, the business of doctoring? Who should know better, the business of rental, then a property investor. A doctor's outlook may be affected by the nature of the business of doctoring. In the most extreme cases; if he fails the patient dies. But the medical bill survives. If I am wrong, I fail. If I am right I succeed, my business survives, and I can pay my bills. Rent control is bad government policy. Keith Reitman NearNorth TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. 2. If you don't like what's being discussed here, don't complain - change the subject (Mpls-specific, of course.) ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
