Letters to the Editor – 16/09 – House price cap, Startup survival, Best of Twitter
House price cap
[Re: Industry calls to limit lending won’t fix our bust housing system, Friday]
A policy of the state intervening to cap house prices will strangle our fragile growth and exclude more people from home ownership. In economics, supply must meet demand. We need to fix the supply issues through less red tape and tax, in conjunction with local authorities and communities being more open to development. This will make it easier for companies like mine to build more homes. We are in the middle of a housing crisis, and we’re barely building half of the 240,000 homes we need a year. The solution is more supply.
Bob Weston, chairman, Weston Homes
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Startup survival
[Re: The key to effective action? Don’t view the world in those nifty shades of grey, Friday]
Good piece. But this sort of research does inevitably fall into the trap of survivor bias. What about all the failed wannabe Zuckerbergs or Brins, whose dichotomous thought got them nowhere?
Name withheld
[Re: From gluten free petfood to bespoke granola: the startups funded with taxpayer money, Friday]
“Investment in startups is vitally important” is true, but is anyone checking to see if any of these new businesses are viable? The market is a hard reality.
George Crowe
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BEST OF TWITTER
New euro-euphemism: “administrative measures”. Meaning: “capital controls”.
@WhelanKarl
Spain GDP: unless there is a miracle in the second half of this year, it will be missed by a mile.
@TradeDesk_Steve
Gold does not like Larry Summers; but the US dollar does.
@KeithMcCullough
Russia’s geopolitical position has deteriorated dramatically over the course of Putin’s presidency.
@ianbremmer