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I think it's fine, so long as people are willing to accept the sky-high cost of living that comes with their policy choices.
by Kalium 5y ago
I think it's fine, so long as people are willing to accept the sky-high cost of living that comes with their policy choices.
- HWR_14 5y agoWould the cost of living go up with rent control? It seems like people who already live there have controlled costs.
- Kalium 5y agoBear in mind that we're not talking about a counter-factual. SF has rent control today for most of its rental stock. As you correctly say, people in rent controlled units have controlled housing cost increases year to year. They do not have controlled costs if they need to move. They do not have controlled costs for food or transportation or any other aspect of their cost of living. To the extent that rent control drives up market rents as population increases, it definitely helps increase cost of living. To the extent that the politics around rent control help deter new housing supply it helps drive up the cost of living that way too. The effects of rent control on the market - and on the people blessed by rent control - are both well-understood. San Francisco has made a series of policy choices that result in very high cost of living. There's nothing wrong these choices so long as people are willing to accept the results.