Jeff Bezos wants people to stop blaming Airbnb for high rents in New York city

Jeff Bezos precocious appeared connected CNBC's Squawk Box wherever helium said that if Amazon were to tally the mode New York City runs its schoolhouse system, packages would instrumentality weeks to arrive. During the aforesaid interview, the Amazon laminitis pushed backmost against claims that Airbnb is liable for precocious rents successful New York City.

Jeff Bezos argued that the short-term rental level is not the crushed lodging costs stay elevated. Instead, helium said authorities policies that bounds lodging proviso are the main crushed rents stay expensive.

Jeff Bezos says Airbnb is not down precocious rents successful New York City

During a treatment astir taxes, wealthiness and authorities argumentation during the CNBC interview, Jeff Bezos turned to the contented of lodging costs and questioned the thought that Airbnb is driving rent increases. "Why is rent expensive? Why is rent truthful expensive? I precocious saw idiosyncratic blamed it connected Airbnb.

Okay, Airbnb is not the origin of costly rent," Bezos said.He added that restrictions connected Airbnb successful New York City person not led to little rents. "In fact, it's been almost, fto maine decorativeness present 1 second. It's already been outlawed—in New York City. And rents are inactive precise high. So we cognize Airbnb isn't causing precocious rents," helium said."What's truly causing precocious rent is authorities intervention," helium said. "We subsidize request with things similar taxation policy, which is fine, but astatine the aforesaid time, we constrain supply.

We constrain proviso with things similar zoning and permitting."During the interaction, Jeff Bezos besides questioned wherefore operation projects look lengthy support processes. "Why does it instrumentality truthful agelong to get thing permitted to build?" helium asked.According to Bezos, the basal economics of proviso and request explicate the problem."If you privation rents to travel down, econ 101—really simple. You request to, you can't benignant of subsidize request and constrain supply.

If you do, prices are going to skyrocket."He added: "But this is not anybody's responsibility different than authorities policy. And this is fixable."

Later successful the interview, Bezos said authorities policies often favour circumstantial industries and businesses. "I would accidental that we person mode excessively overmuch firm welfare, mode excessively overmuch firm subsidies," helium said. He besides criticized peculiar provisions successful the taxation code, saying, "This is crony capitalism. And of course, it should beryllium fixed."