Rent inflation, San Francisco affordable housing crises
The absence of dividends doesn't just affect the legitimacy of stocks and stock investors; it proudly has the worst impact on low-income people who struggle to pay rent. The reality is, when companies hoard profits and end up with too much money to play with, they start wreaking havoc on other areas of the economy.
An interesting thing about the 19th century, when firms paid dividends, was that there was practically no inflation. In contrast, as dividends disappeared and Ponzi profits became dominant in the 20th century, we started to experience the worst inflation in recorded human history. Inflation is a problem that affects everyone, and it is especially noticeable in sectors like the real estate market, which is extremely sensitive to supply and demand.
The San Francisco Bay Area has been dealing with an affordable housing crisis, with no solution in sight. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, rent prices increased over 20 percent between 2014 and 2016. There are students and young professionals in the city who had to share a bedroom with one or sometimes two other people, and employees who make $100,000 a year in Mountain View, California, might still consider living in a van to save money on rent.
The local government is now considering temporary rent control and eviction restrictions as an emergency measure, but it's not a real solution, and the government doesn't understand the real problem. What the city officials don't realize is that the housing inflation plaguing their city is tied to the distribution of Ponzi assets.
A big contributor to the San Francisco rent inflation crisis is Google and companies like Google and their participation in the real estate market. Google makes a lot of money, and they don't share it with their investors. As a result, the company has more money than they know what to do with, so they start investing in real estate—a market that is completely disconnected from their core business. This turn drives up real estate prices, inflates rent, and drastically affects ordinary people who are completely unassociated with the company.
One way Google affects inflation is with direct participation in the real estate market, buying up land and properties. Another way is in direct participation when they pay their employees astronomical salaries, and their people drive up rent, property, and even food prices in the areas they touch. Usually, there's nothing wrong with paying people a lot of money for good work or buying real estate if they can afford it. But for public companies that hoard profits which should go to investors, that money is associated with the distribution of Ponzi assets—something that is artificial and dirty.
Of course, it's not all bad. Google develops the land they own, so there are positive effects on those areas. But I'm pretty sure Google investors did not buy Google stocks because they want them to play with real estate; they invested in the company for their technology. And their shareholders probably want to receive dividends rather than absolutely nothing from the company.
The problem with the lack of dividends isn't just limited to the investors who invest in stocks; it is the source of many other economic issues as well. The actions of Google and companies like Google are not the only things driving up inflation, creating wage inequality, and getting people kicked out of their homes, but their actions do play a significant role.