This is not a good advertisement for international cooperation and governance

From one of those UN bods:

The unaffordability of housing has plagued renters the world over, with countless households living month to month. Rents have soared as institutional investors eat up more and more stock.

How does an insurance company - say - buying up housing to then rent out increase rents? In fact, if rental housing becomes an institutional investment then this will increase the supply of rental housing. An increase in supply leading to a reduction in rents, no?

We also gain an insight into the proposed solutions:

Regulate housing costs so they are commensurate with household income.

“Regulate” here means, of course, “keep low”. Which will reduce the supply of rental housing in a manner which institutional investment does not.

We here are always more than a little suspicious of this international governance stuff. We tend to think it’s the home of those too absurd even for domestic politics and there’s little here to make us change that view. Still, there is that useful confirmation of a basic truth, the best argument against government is watching what government does.