For the EA folks(and other supposedly "rational" people) more interested in AGI because of its existential risk, I present an argument for caring about housing affordability.
Like with human cloning, we can put something in place to create governance as AI becomes more general.
But there is an existential risk that even the likes of Elon Musk considers potentially worse than anything he mentioned before and that is population collapse. The root of this is
involuntary childlessness. There are many parents who wanted children, but because of economic circumstances decide to delay children, which then leads to involuntarily not moving through that phase of life.
Some people don't want children. That's fine. Some people physically can't have children, but want to, and people are working on solutions for these people. But close to 80% of childless people are that way mainly because economics keep them from moving to the next phase of life.
The affordability crisis in housing (and other inflating things) that sparked over the last three years (unless completely reversed soon) could be the nail in the coffin of humanity. It'd just show up 40 years from now.
edit: Counterpoint to the documentary and my own post:
But even in the places where replacement population birth isn't happening, they really need to open up immigration. I actually find the celebration of smaller older populations naïve.
edit2: I started another thread on population collapse.
https://www.typologycentral.com/thr...cline-happening-and-is-it-a-bad-thing.116719/
Here is an analysis on how it affects inflation though:
https://www.economy.com/getlocal?q=a7c139c0-2b8c-4abf-9b65-bd8b11392939&app=eccafile