4 ms·

Yeah, that sounds like rent control doing it's one job: preventing existing tenants from being priced out of the places they already live. I don't think there's

Yeah, that sounds like rent control doing it's one job: preventing existing tenants from being priced out of the places they already live. I don't think there's a single advocate for rent control that believe it will solve all housing problems.

marcinzm 5y ago
>I don't think there's a single advocate for rent control that believe it will solve all housing problems. I mean, OP literally did that, erroneously implying that rent control increases supply by using a historically incorrect example from 50s NYC. This is why people get so annoyed with many proponents of rent control, they don't stop mid way as you do but keep going and implying it solves all housing problems.
- pydry 5y ago
  >I mean, OP literally did that, erroneously implying that rent control increases supply False. OP (me) was implying that it didnt meaningfully restrict supply. I suspect a longitudnal study would find the two variables to be tenuously related at best. >This is why people get so annoyed with many proponents of rent control Because they make wrong inferences?
  - marcinzm 5y ago
    >False. OP (me) was implying that it didnt meaningfully restrict supply. The OP said "fastest period of homebuilding" with fastest being in italics. I don't see how that can be read as anything except saying rent control increases supply.
    - pydry 5y ago
      No. Absolutely not. It simply throws a huge amount of doubt on the prevailing narrative that it severely restricts supply. One could make the argument that it helped increase supply but that wasnt my intention.
flavius29663 5y ago
it does that for current tenants, but in a growing city the incentive to build is severely reduced. Also the incentive to buy is severely reduced, meaning all incoming tenants have a hard time getting places to live.
- howinteresting 5y ago
  To the extent that the incentive to build is reduced, the problem is with the idea that incentives should determine the rate of building, and not with rent control. Providing housing security to existing residents through rent stabilization is a moral imperative. Homeowners such as myself have access to it through mortgages. Renters should have the same. Beyond that, of course we need to build a ton of new housing. That can either be done by the state directly, or by loosening zoning regulations, or by some other means.
  - flavius29663 5y ago
    > of course we need to build a ton of new housing To build a ton of new housing, you need investors willing to do so. If you have a million dollars, would you invest to build in a rent control city, or in a city where you can raise the rent as you wish? Most people would choose option 2, thus creating shortages in rent control cities, which in turn make the housing more expensive than it would be if the rents would be free-market.
    - howinteresting 5y ago
      As I said, then the solution is to lessen the importance of the incentive system and for the state to do so, for example. There are things in life we treat as core moral values even if they cause issues with incentives. For example, people should not go to prison for not paying their debts, even though it runs against incentives. Rent stabilization should be one of them as well. The rest of society should adjust.
      - flavius29663 5y ago

marcinzm 5y ago

>I don't think there's a single advocate for rent control that believe it will solve all housing problems. I mean, OP literally did that, erroneously implying that rent control increases supply by using a historically incorrect example from 50s NYC. This is why people get so annoyed with many proponents of rent control, they don't stop mid way as you do but keep going and implying it solves all housing problems.

pydry 5y ago
>I mean, OP literally did that, erroneously implying that rent control increases supply False. OP (me) was implying that it didnt meaningfully restrict supply. I suspect a longitudnal study would find the two variables to be tenuously related at best. >This is why people get so annoyed with many proponents of rent control Because they make wrong inferences?
- marcinzm 5y ago
  >False. OP (me) was implying that it didnt meaningfully restrict supply. The OP said "fastest period of homebuilding" with fastest being in italics. I don't see how that can be read as anything except saying rent control increases supply.
  - pydry 5y ago
    No. Absolutely not. It simply throws a huge amount of doubt on the prevailing narrative that it severely restricts supply. One could make the argument that it helped increase supply but that wasnt my intention.

flavius29663 5y ago

it does that for current tenants, but in a growing city the incentive to build is severely reduced. Also the incentive to buy is severely reduced, meaning all incoming tenants have a hard time getting places to live.

howinteresting 5y ago
To the extent that the incentive to build is reduced, the problem is with the idea that incentives should determine the rate of building, and not with rent control. Providing housing security to existing residents through rent stabilization is a moral imperative. Homeowners such as myself have access to it through mortgages. Renters should have the same. Beyond that, of course we need to build a ton of new housing. That can either be done by the state directly, or by loosening zoning regulations, or by some other means.
- flavius29663 5y ago
  > of course we need to build a ton of new housing To build a ton of new housing, you need investors willing to do so. If you have a million dollars, would you invest to build in a rent control city, or in a city where you can raise the rent as you wish? Most people would choose option 2, thus creating shortages in rent control cities, which in turn make the housing more expensive than it would be if the rents would be free-market.
  - howinteresting 5y ago
    As I said, then the solution is to lessen the importance of the incentive system and for the state to do so, for example. There are things in life we treat as core moral values even if they cause issues with incentives. For example, people should not go to prison for not paying their debts, even though it runs against incentives. Rent stabilization should be one of them as well. The rest of society should adjust.
    - flavius29663 5y ago