Greg, You always have great quotes so here’s another one. I am reminded of the relevant saying of that Cherokee wit, Will Rogers: Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.

You raise so many important points. Indeed one way of bringing housing prices under control is to tax speculation. Here is an overlooked study that says that house flipping was an important factor in the 2008 crisis. It was house flippers who default in measures sufficient enough to affect housing prices. As an economist, what do you think of it? https://qz.com/1064061/house-flippers-triggered-the-us-housing-market-crash-not-poor-subprime-borrowers-a-new-study-shows/

I wish there was a better word for extractive investing rather than ‘rent seeking’. Economists understand it, but for those who don’t have the background explanation, it implies rent on a house, which does provide a benefit. While I can’t think of a better word, I think this concept is not well enough understood outside of the economics discipline.