Seattle passes minimum wage of $15.

Individual income tax collection has contributed the majority of federal revenues since 1950.

Rents increase because of demand, yes, especially in prosperous cities. But rent increases have outpaced income growth and inflation nationally. If you just take into account the growing cities like Seattle rent growth has left inflation and income growth in the dust.

Why would Seattle want to push people out of their cities and lose revenue due to real estate speculation? People making solid middle class wages get hammered by rent every month in cities like San Francisco and NY. An increased MW would still only be a tiny drag on the speculation, though it could be tremendous for lessening the burden on the quasi-welfare programs.

The Marxist solution(temporary solution) would be labor unions purchasing housing co-ops and establishing rent based on income. Which would fall well within liberal free-market capitalist parameters.

Build more housing then. It's not like there is a cabal of land owners colluding to keep prices high. Speculation is not inherently bad. Rents, stocks, labor, potatoes, etc none of these have an objective value.
 
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