Dystopia: President Sanchez Re-Creates A Housing Market In 2029

I decided it would be good to tell a story about what the world will look like in the future after the wildfire of crazy interventions in the housing market results in what I’ve predicted as a government takeover of rental housing. This is the third and final in that series, a story about a President that brings it all to an end after the 2028 election.

President Elect Louella Sanchez was never given much of a chance of being elected president not because she was Mexican and Peruvian or a woman; Sanchez was a Republican. Her platform had been simple: dial back the myriad of controls and interventions imposed by the government during the Covid-19 pandemic. “People,” she said on election night, “Have chosen to put trust back in people, not the government.”

Sanchez, however, had won a narrow victory in the 2028 election, winning votes among many new Latino voters. 

“Immigrants are socially conservative,” she’d say, “When Democrats flung open the borders, they didn’t think about that.”

And it was true, data analysis post-election found that the millions of new voters created by immigration policies and Democratic voting laws had created a very strong conservative base, opposed to abortion, less tolerant of laws favoring “wokeism” as it came to be known. 

“Latinos,” Sanchez would say, “Are pretty devout Catholics, hard workers, and very family oriented. And they see marriage as between a man and a woman.”

Many on the left supported Sanchez because of her immigrant background even though she was socially conservative. Many also forgot she was also an economic conservative; she saw the rampant inflation and lack of productivity in the economy as a result of vast expansion of government entitlement programs and price controls. Nowhere was this more problematic than in housing policy. 

Her chief housing advisor was Joseph Keith, a strong advocate of the price system. 

“This is your chance,” he told her before an important speech laying out her housing policy. “We can change all of this while you’ve got the good will.”

The speech was purposely short and to the point but very detailed. 

“My fellow Americans, many of you tonight are waiting, waiting for housing. Others of you are paying almost everything you earn for housing. Others of you tonight have given up the thought of moving; you can’t give up the low cost or even free housing you have to take a new job or move closer to family. Still others tonight have become law breakers, living in black market housing or illegally, or worse, in cars, RVs, or tents.”

“Well, tonight I want you to know there is hope. We’re going to change things. 

“First, I am asking for Congress to pass legislation to eliminate subsidies for Housing Bureaus and Authorities that sprung up like mushrooms since 2022; in fact, this legislation will force the sale of most of the housing now owned by these agencies to private housing providers.”

“We have not seen a strong return of the office sector, and that resulted in ownership by government of millions of square feet of unused office space. The funds generated by the sale of government owned housing will be used to convert this space into housing and that will be sold to private housing providers.”

“We will end the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and replace it with a broad and cash based assistance program for people who struggle to pay for housing as the government allows free pricing and value exchange. We’ll create penalties and incentives for state and local governments to end rampant price controls. And for those who are struggling with addiction and mental illness, most of our housing subsidies will be used to support your recovery. I know you need more than a ‘unit’ and a set of keys to live an abundant life.”

“I campaigned on more local control and I still believe in that; but I will take control where I can from local governments who have abused it, and give it to you, the people who can return to a world where you can negotiate, bargain, and innovate rather than wait in line and become law breakers.”

“My fellow Americans, you elected a President who believes in you and your desire and ability to solve problems better than government. But I believe in government otherwise I wouldn’t be here in this office. I don’t believe that the best government is no government. Instead, I believe that the best government is there when you need it, but out of your lives otherwise. This should be true for all Americans whether you own and run a business or are working hard every day to earn a wage.” 

“The way we solve our housing problems is by allowing hard working Americans to make and operate housing for other hard-working Americans. We’re not going to tell you how much to charge, how much to pay, where to live, how many windows you need, or what the color the paint should be. As someone once said, ‘Zoning is a 20th century solution to a 19th century problem.’ Going forward, I commit to you that we will end it by in my first term.”

“I said when I campaigned across this country in cities, small towns, and among workers in rural communities, ‘The solution for our housing problems is not more rules and more money, but more housing.’ Now we’re going to make that policy and law.”

“In closing tonight, let me assure you that this will be a tough fight. Many powerful interests will resist the return of a housing market. There are many things we don’t know about the future; but I know that we won’t rest until we not just return to a pre-Covid housing market. No. We will go beyond that. We see an America where people’s mobility and opportunity won’t be limited by scarcity of housing.”

“We will have an America in which the abundance of housing will be our greatest opportunity, and its production will be both profitable and affordable.”

“The 20s have been tough. The 30s won’t be. We’re going to reverse the fear and power-based grabs of your freedoms and give them back to you better than they were when they were taken from you. And for those of you who worked and fought hard to become Americans, we know you didn’t come here to deal the same problems you left over there; you deserve better too. That is my promise to you. Good night. And God Bless America.”