i repeat: liberals are supposed to hate the rentiers, to denounce them as idlers and thieves and insist they charge fair market prices.

today, they're just an accepted part of the bourgeoisie. granted..

...but, they were initially the singular problem identified by liberal economists, and attacked by liberal politicians. to a very large extent, the purpose of liberalism was initially to abolish the rentier class, who at the time were nearly exclusively tory.

that was the entire point of the theories devised by the likes of smith & ricardo: to abolish rentier capitalism.

it clearly hasn't worked so well. but it's useful to put what they intended to do in proper context.

so, there really shouldn't be anybody except tories arguing against going after people that are trying to inflate the rent; liberals are supposed to be virulently opposed to that.