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Funny, if you look at news and popular media from the 1970s you get the impression is was an awful time economically and pretty much everyone agreed we were doo
by gmarx 11y ago
Funny, if you look at news and popular media from the 1970s you get the impression is was an awful time economically and pretty much everyone agreed we were doomed. Rents were cheap in NYC in the 1970s? I don't doubt it; ever seen "Taxi Driver"? Yes rent control is great for people in rent controled apartments. The flip side is that as demand rises everyone who hasn't been in NYC for 40 years is SOL...which seems analogous to the complaint the author makes at the end about middle aged home owners vs new renters. As a renter, I agree the current situation is ridiculous but the author doesn't explain it. He just notes who has incentive to favor the current situation and winks
- talos 11y agoUp until loopholes were introduced in the 90s almost every apartment in NYC was rent stabilized, which is a very modest version of rent control. Over half of all non-public apartments for rent are still in this program. Almost no apartments are traditionally rent controlled anymore. Rent laws are often blamed for the city's problems in the 1970s, but there were plenty of other issues (underinvestment, depopulation, municipal bankruptcy).
- BocceBaal 11y agoThe author is either ignorant of economics or intentionally misrepresenting the facts to advance his pro-union agenda. I can't take his piece seriously. He ignores the fact that rent control causes housing not to be built and so raises prices for everyone who doesn't already have a rent controlled apartment. Reagan was elected in no small part because of the high unemployment + inflation under Carter. If the 70's were so great would Carter have lost to Reagan by 10 points? If Reagan was so terrible would he have been reelected in a landslide in 1984?