zlacker

>>halduj+(OP)
The dynamic is a little different than in most other cities. What's really happening here is that cheap rent is a kind of entitlement in Berlin: rent controls extend across tenants so getting an apartment is really about persuading a landlord to take you rather than bidding at an appropriate price point. AirBnB gets around this by allowing rentals at arbitrary price points. This is true whether it's an owner or a renter doing the leasing, which is very different from other markets in which it's mostly a concern of renters abusing their leases.

> "The Berlin Senate’s ruling nonetheless reflects a general feeling across a city in which homes are getting harder to find: Berliners have had enough and they want their city back."

Translation: There is no pricing mechanism on rents in the city and it is becoming increasingly impossible to find an apartment.

While it's certainly true that AirBnB essentially allows landlords to flout the law, it's worth noting that the adverse effects of price ceilings on supply are the root cause of Berlin's problems and this will not solve the underlying problem of rents being far from equilibrium.

>>jvm+ih
Capitalism always exists, whether you want to admit it or not. You can pretend there are no such things as prices by adding more and more epicycles to your model, or just admit they exist and then (for example) have a welfare state to compensate the non-winners.

>>daniel+1k
How is a welfare state different from an epicycle such as rent control?

>>xkcd-s+Vp
The aim of a welfare state is to redistribute wealth to a point where no-one needs to be afraid of dying of hunger, cold, or trivially treatable medical conditions and can have a primary education.

There are no pure market mechanism that would take care of these needs. I would not call a welfare state an epicycle.