@golgaloth Rent is a defacto tax, and a massive one at that, eating away around a quarter of a family's income at best, with many spending in the 30% to 50% range.

This is an issue, because it doesn't go towards any real productivity, but as an income to the landlord, who is then taxed for it.

So money gets taxed twice, before being spent on actual productivity.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg of problems created by a mostly rent real estate market.