> It seems like rent control creates consumer surplus for renters, at the expense of landlords. The use of AirBnB transfers some of this consumer surplus from t

> It seems like rent control creates consumer surplus for renters, at the expense of landlords. The use of AirBnB transfers some of this consumer surplus from the original renter to the temporary guest. We can obviously agree AirBnB is not the way to address this potential issue. > In cities without rent control, does AirBnB thrive to the same extent? I'd wager that less than 1% of AirBnBs are in rent controlled apartments in NYC. I'm sure rent control has a minor systemic effect, but rent control arbitrage is not the story here.