New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a citywide freeze on rents, sparking near-universal condemnation from economists. Surveys of leading economists over four decades show overwhelming consensus: rent control backfires. A 1990 poll of 464 economists found 93% of American respondents agreed that "a ceiling on rents reduces the quantity and quality of housing available," with 95% of Canadian economists concurring. A 2012 survey yielded similar results.
Rent Control: A Disgraced Policy
Jason Furman, who chaired President Barack Obama's Council of Economic Advisers, stated, "Rent control has been about as disgraced as any economic policy in the tool kit." Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck, a socialist, was more blunt: "In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing." The policy applies to roughly one million of New York's rent-stabilized apartments.
Progressive Defense and Historical Ignorance
Progressive writer Jill Filipovic posted on X: "Am I the only person who has no strong feeling about the rent freeze other than 'cool to try out a policy like this on a short-term basis so we can test if it actually works?'" But the article argues this attitude ignores centuries of failed experiments. Price controls predate Christianity, as documented in Forty Centuries of Wage and Price Controls by Robert Schuettinger and Eamonn Butler. Hammurabi set prices 4,000 years ago; Diocletian issued his Edict on Maximum Prices in A.D. 301; President Nixon tried it disastrously in 1971.
The Danger of Price Controls
Economist Alex Tabarrok described prices as "a signal wrapped up in an incentive." Masking the signal removes the incentive, leading to reduced investment in housing, agriculture, oil, and medicine. Venezuela's oil industry collapsed after the government fixed fuel prices to a political benchmark. Despite this history, progressive politicians like Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders continue to advocate for price controls in response to inflation.
Wealth Taxes: Another Old Idea
The left's latest enthusiasm for wealth taxes is equally ancient, originating as mere plunder in prehistory. Most countries that adopt them eventually repeal them. California Governor Gavin Newsom has endorsed a national wealth tax, but the article notes that such policies are failed ideas revived as "new."
Conclusion
The article concludes that while President Donald Trump appeals to low-information voters, his most ardent opponents promising a bold alternative are appealing to the same kind of voters and journalists, recycling policies that have been discredited for millennia.
