Book launch talk: 'Why can't you afford a home?' by Josh Ryan-Collins

Throughout the western world, a whole generation is being priced out of the housing market. While wages and incomes continue to stagnate for the majority, house prices and rents remain staggeringly high.

Ryan-Collins argues that to understand this crisis, we must examine a crucial paradox at the heart of modern capitalism. The interaction of private home ownership and a lightly regulated commercial banking system leads to a feedback cycle. Unlimited credit and money flows into an inherently finite supply of property, causing rising house prices, declining home ownership, rising inequality, and debt, stagnant growth and financial instability.

The only way out of this vicious circle is to radically rethink how we structure our tax and financial systems and accept that home ownership may not always be the solution. For anyone who wants to understand the housing affordability crisis and what we can do about it, this talk is not to be missed.

The event will be chaired by Guardian columnist and housing expert, Dawn Foster.

Watch the talk: