alt Hacker NewsI used to agree with this, but nowadays it seems that the factors constricting housing supply are in many places related to zoning and regulation, not the ability for developers to make a profit, so rent control might have much less downside than economists have conventionally assumed.
EDIT: I am seeing a nephew comment that says rent control could make NIMBY politics even worse because it makes renters' interests more like homeowners'. Hadn't thought of that.
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Everything risks aggravating NIMBYism. It's hard to see how housing costs can come down in a lot of cities simply because housing is seen as an investment and people won't idly standby if the value decreases because of policies.
I cringe every time some youngster suggests we go down the socialist/communist path because none of them have any real-life experience with how bad Eastern Europe was! Here's a hint: It's was fucking beyond belief horrible--everyone was poor, there was nothing to buy in the stores, and people spent most of their free time drinking themselves to death.
Rent control is just the renter’s version of “got mine! Let’s pull that ladder up.”
Look wha happened to rent prices in Argentina when they removed rent control.