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Again, "the left" is not a homogeneous entity. When talking about "the left" we should look at the left's coalition. We don't really have significant party plat
by scoofy 3mo ago
Again, "the left" is not a homogeneous entity. When talking about "the left" we should look at the left's coalition. We don't really have significant party platforms anymore, but I can assure you "rent control" would not get passed by the Democratic Party coalition in the House of Representatives right now, much less the Senate.
Associating a political coalition with their most extreme or noisy members is counterproductive. When looking for what a coalition stands for, it's better to look at the coalition member who are most productive with legislation in places they have control.
- WalterBright 3mo ago[flagged]
- scoofy 3mo agoI don’t know about Washington State, but Oregon’s rent control is capped at 7% increases after inflation per year, which isn’t exactly stopping market forces. Now, I agree with you that rent controls are bad, generally, but a system simply reasonably dampens real price increases, rather than eliminating them altogether is effectively a different kind of law. I don’t support it, but I think it’s reasonable. That from one of the most progressive states in the nation. It’s not socialism.
- WalterBright 3mo ago[flagged]
- scoofy 3mo agoI would disagree with that statement. When I talk about "rent control" I'm talking about it in the form of "general price controls" that keep the price of things from meeting supply on the demand curve. The controls in the party platform have everything to do with already subsidized housing that isn't actually on the demand curve anyway. The distinction is subtle but matters. Similarly, a price-shock dampener that allows the underlying good to return to market rates in a reasonable amount of time is not messing with the demand curve, it's just a generalized safety measure, no different than a circuit breaker on a trading floor. Again, rent controls and restrictive zoning laws both fall on the small-c conservative side of the spectrum, because both see stasis as a kind of natural order. The populists on the left are generally more aligned with small-c conservatives on the political spectrum, but again, the single-pole, right-left spectrum doesn't capture that distinction.
- WalterBright 3mo agoWhen the government tells you what rent you may or may not charge, it's rent control, and will diminish the supply of rental housing.