A referendum due in Berlin next month on expropriating big residential landlords should be a wake-up call. The ballot, prompted by a petition, would activate a never-before-used part of the German constitution that allows the state to take over “land, natural resources and means of production” in exchange for compensation. If it passes, the largest private landlords would be forced to sell their properties to the city government at a “fair” price. This would do little to solve Berliners’ grievances, but it demonstrates the extent of anger about seemingly broken housing markets across the developed world.
下月將在柏林舉行的關于征收大型房東住宅房產的公投，應該成為一記警鐘。由請愿引發的此次公投，將激活德國憲法中一條從未動用過的內容，即允許國家以提供補償為交換條件，接管“土地、自然資源和生產資料”。如果公投獲得通過，各大私人房東將被迫按“公允”價格將其房產出售給市政府。這么做不會幫助解決柏林人的不滿，但它展示了發達國家看似失靈的住房市場所引發的憤怒。