Yes you can! Consider Manhattan: young people cannot today afford the same kind of house in the city that their parents could afford doing the exact same job at the same age. Their standard of living is lower (either living in the city and living in a much smaller place, or commuting in from outside the city) than their parents, in the area of housing, simply by virtue of the fact that their parents go there first.
Imagine extrapolating the injustices of the NYC housing market to the whole economy...
* People get undue credit just for being there first*
simply by virtue of the fact that their parents go there first
Lots of parents didn't choose to go there at all. Some parents chose to buy residences in better parts of Manhattan, some in worse. Some chose better buildings, some chose worse. Some parents took out big loans betting on their future to own real estate, some preferred to spend that money on vacations.
In your mind, what investments that appreciate over time are not "undue credit"? Do you have a certain amount of gain that we can all know is fair, deserved, or not lucky?
> In your mind, what investments that appreciate over time are not "undue credit"? Do you have a certain amount of gain that we can all know is fair, deserved, or not lucky?
Investments generally appreciate over time because they create increased value. If your Apple stock goes up, it's because Apple is making more money each year. That's due credit. Investments that appreciate simply by virtue of fixed supply result in undue credit to older generations.
You're conflating two different things. Real property has intrinsic value, and being a limited commodity means that prices for it will rise by virtue of the fact that it is a limited commodity. Stock is limited as well, but because it has no intrinsic value its price doesn't increase imply by virtue of its being a limited commodity.
Forget about price for a second and look at intrinsic value. What is the underlying asset represented by ownership of property? It's the right to exclusively use some land and accompanying buildings. What is the underlying asset represented by stock? Leaving aside different kinds of stock, it's generally the right to receive a certain percentage of the profits of a company over time. Now, look at how price changes in the two assets are correlated with changes in the intrinsic value of the assets. A plot on the UES might appreciate 50% between 2000 and 2013, even though the neighborhood hasn't really changed in that time. The use and enjoyment a given person gets from that property is the same in 2000 and 2013. Now, compare to a stock. If the price of a stock appreciates 50% between 2000 and 2013, it's generally because the company has increased profits. Your enjoyment of the $150 in stock in 2013 is higher than your enjoyment of the $100 in stock in 2000 because it represents the same percentage of the right to receive a larger amount of profits.
It's the right to exclusively use some land and accompanying buildingseven though the neighborhood hasn't really changed in that time
I have no idea where you get that notion. Are you suggesting that Manhattan and the surrounding area hasn't changed? It's the very changes that have driven the rise in value for living there.
it's generally the right to receive a certain percentage of the profits of a company over time
Not even close. Most equities these days don't distribute dividends.
As another responder said, you're not understanding how people value assets - whether they be property or stocks.
Value is inherently fluid but ultimately only what someone will pay for it. Your arguments for the limited nature of property vs stocks are tortured. You're working extremely hard to call gains from property value "undue". Gains from speculation are fundamentally the same whether they come from stocks, currency, property, commodities, collectors items, whatever.
You are making a bunch of unwarranted and incorrect assumptions about how owners value both real estate and stock. Both follow bubbles, and both also track underlying value.
