On 5th April 2023, Rachel C. Palmer, Senior Vice President at Blackstone Group, disclosed in a report that her firm had raised $30 billion for global real estate investments. Palmer's statement illustrates how corporate giants capitalize on housing markets at the expense of local populations. Blackstone has purchased over 66,000 single-family homes across the United States, contributing to skyrocketing rental prices.

The hands of power are not just in the private sector. On 12th September 2022, former US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, Ben Carson, joined the board of directors at a Blackstone subsidiary, signaling the revolving door between public service and corporate interests.

This transaction seems benign but reveals a systematic approach benefiting a select few. The presentation of Carson’s transition notes the completion of his service in government at the end of the Trump Administration on 20th January 2021, followed by his entrance into private industry two months later. This pattern continues as both Blackstone's investment strategies and Carson's housing policies mirror the same neoliberal ethos geared towards maximizing profit.

The connection between increases in housing costs and the Steering Committee for the Global Housing Initiative (GHI) cannot be overlooked. Formed in 2020, GHI voices solutions to the housing crisis while being primarily funded by real estate developers. For example, from 2020 to 2021, GHI received $5 million from the National Association of Realtors (NAR)—a group that benefits directly from rising property prices and diminishing affordable housing.

There is a clear structure here: wealthy allies financially support GHI; GHI produces policy recommendations like mitigating zoning laws, which allow further real estate development. Following these resolutions, developers reap profits while the marginalized suffer from displacement. Between 2019 and 2022, median rent prices increased by 25% in major metropolitan areas, directly correlating to these policies.

This is the third such coalition to form since 2008 with backing from corporate investors wanting increased property value after housing market crashes. The pattern of rising rents following economic downturns has a precedent dating to the 2008 financial crisis where firms like BlackRock leveraged the collapse to absorb properties at reduced prices, benefitting their portfolios significantly.

Not only do the wealthiest capitalize on the discord of others, but they also craft the narrative and solutions presented to the public. On 14th February 2023, Timothy J. Gurney, CEO of a top real estate investment firm, presented at the World Economic Forum, suggesting that public-private partnerships are key to solving the housing crisis—a tactic that typically benefits developers while offering little more than temporary relief to communities.

The ongoing housing crisis is in no small part due to a systematic pull from influential realtors, aligned think tanks, and former government figures, creating a infrastructural loop where the same entities profit while proposing the solutions that often fail to address the core of the issue. The Susurluk principle applies; those who pay are also the ones who remain silent while the most vulnerable face displacement and instability.

Moving forward, it is vital to closely scrutinize the financial commitments of the GHI and their recommendations, as well as raise awareness around policies that offer real solutions rather than further displacing vulnerable populations.

As the housing crisis continues unabated, a deeper investigation into the financing channels of real estate firms and policy think tanks is necessary to expose the entrenched networks preserving their influence. The housing crisis endures under the historical weight of manipulative capitalism—a condition that became starkly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic and has now culminated in almost 40 million people projected to face eviction in the coming year.