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by richwater 3 days ago
Rent Control is a settled topic in economics, bar some fringe theorists. It would be impossible for me to explain all the negative externalities that rent control has on both existing and new housing stock in a single comment. I implore you to do some academic reading.
1 comments
ceejayoz 3 days ago
> It would be impossible for me to explain all the negative externalities that rent control has on both existing and new housing stock in a single comment.

The same is true for pricing out 40% of the population.

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Sabinus 3 days ago
That has a solution. Build (or permit) more housing where people want to live and the price will go down. Simple.

Rent control destroys all the market incentives that are the point of having housing be private. If you're going to do that you might as well have the government directly own and rent the housing stock itself.

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ceejayoz 3 days ago
> Build (or permit) more housing where people want to live and the price will go down.

Mamdani's working to do precisely that, including with this sort of red-tape cutting. https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/04/business/mamdani-housing-new-...

"His strategy uses market-oriented policies — easing building regulations, loosening zoning restrictions and rescuing the city’s crumbling public housing stock through private financing — to advance his social democratic goals of 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade."

He's just not letting it be an excuse to profiteer off existing tenants in existing housing.

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foco_tubi 2 days ago
If you abolish rent control with the current US housing stock, you make millions of people homeless. I’ve come around to how it has hurt the speed of development but it’s an entrenched policy at this point. You can’t get rid of it until there’s enough housing. The alternative as you allude to is massive public investment in subsidy, whether that’s public housing projects, rent vouchers, or UBI.
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Sabinus 1 day ago
How does abolishing rent control make millions homeless? The housing would still be there, just with richer people living in them? It would certainly increase commutes for the working class though
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foco_tubi 16 hours ago
The housing would likely sit empty as richer people are a limited quantity market, and are not usually shopping for the typical quality of a rent-controlled or low-income unit. Meanwhile the working class folk you mention are sleeping in their cars in the city, because a 4 hour long commute one way from the exurbs is not feasible.
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