Progressive Politicians Don’t Understand Markets or Rich People

Commentary In her State of the City Address, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tackled the city’s homeless crisis. Appropriately delivered on April 15, Tax Day, she demanded the city’s wealthiest residents reach out and help those most in need. But many such politicians don’t understand markets, especially housing markets, or the mentality of rich people. She pleaded: “We are asking the most fortunate Angelenos to participate in this effort, with personal, private sector and philanthropic funds—to help us acquire more properties, lower the cost of capital and speed up housing. This is the mission of our new capital campaign: LA4LA. We have brought the public sector together—and now we must prevail on the humanity and generosity of the private sector. LA4LA can be a Sea Change for Los Angeles—an unprecedented partnership to confront this emergency … an example of disrupting the status quo to build a new system to save lives.”...