Extremist Seattle activists proven wrong yet again

Hey, what do ya know, it turns out that whole “supply and demand” thing works in Seattle, despite protestations from Progressive activists who want to blame Amazon for all the city’s woes.

Seattle franchisee: I was threatened by Subway

Thanks to an increase in available apartments, Seattle rent priceshave dropped significantly according to a report outlined in The Seattle Times. The Times reports, “In neighborhoods in and around downtown Seattle, the dip equates to an average of $100 in monthly savings for renters signing new leases.”

Why are Seattle rent prices down? More apartments are available — and empty — which allows basic economic principles to make an impact. I know some activists don’t quite understand the basics, so let me give you a very simple primer: when you have a supply that outmatches the demand, the cost to purchase (or rent) that supply goes down.

Some things to keep in mind as we digest this undoubtedly good news.

First, to blame Amazon for the housing problems to begin with is naive and ideological. The anti-capitalist activists view Amazon as a big, evil, greedy company (all while bilking their workers out of tax dollars to support bike lanes fewer people are using and parklets that sit empty nine months out of the year due to the rain). It is true that Amazon brought workers to a city where there were few available units for rent (in relation to the demand), thus increasing prices. But that’s not Amazon’s fault; that’s city leadership’s fault for not helping manage Seattle’s growth.

City council members such as Mike O’Brien purposefully slow housing growth to create a problem that he can then claim to want to solve. He’s doing it to play white knight. It’s as pathetic as it is scary.

Second, keep in perspective that the vast majority of activists screaming about how expensive it is to live in Seattle can, in fact, afford to live in the city. Indeed, they live in the city. You mostly hear from millennials upset they can’t afford to live in the apartment of their choice in the neighborhood they would prefer. Yeah, well, that’s life. I can’t afford certain cars. It doesn’t mean cars are too expensive. It means a desirable car is too expensive, but, I can afford a Toyota, even if it’s not as pretty as a BMW.

There are, of course, people who can’t afford to live in Seattle, but we rely on them to accomplish low-wage jobs.

Once we discount the millennial moans of not wanting to pay as much as they pay, we can get a better grasp on the actual problem of affordable housing. And perhaps a big part of the solution is to actually allow basic economic principles to move forward, instead of stymieing them because activists don’t like them.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jasonrantz