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The way you frame the argument is ignoring all the social, economic, and political problems that come with attempts to solve the issue. Rent control, for instan

The way you frame the argument is ignoring all the social, economic, and political problems that come with attempts to solve the issue. Rent control, for instance, has some serious issues that arguably negate the benefits that come from it.

anigbrowl 12y ago
I hate rent control, but I think it's a symptom of incumbents' unwillingness to allow more development, on the grounds that it would lower the value of the property they own (or more realistically, slow that value's rate of increase). A fixed-rate mortgage is basically rent control for better-off people; typically the mortgage-holder pays off a small bit of principal each month and pays rent on the outstanding amount. So if we want to outlaw rent control, we should outlaw fixed rate mortgages too, and eliminate the artificial cap on property taxes (something that corporations exploit by using shell companies to 'own' commercial real estate, and then transferring ownership or voting control of the shell company while shielding themselves from property tax on the current value of the real estate). But we both know that that's not likely to happen.
- muzz 12y ago
  > I hate rent control, but I think it's a symptom of incumbents' unwillingness to allow more development, No. It began in SF as a very-specific response to Prop 13, which is essentially property-tax-control Both are bad policies in terms of market distortion and are often the overlooked elephants in the room in discussion of housing supply and affordability.
  - anigbrowl 12y ago
    What? Rent control did not originate in San Francisco, and has been around a lot longer than Proposition 13. Its history in modern economics goes back to world War 1, and the concept of economic rents and the need to regulate them originates with Adam Smith in the 18th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_England_and_Wales#1915_to_1939 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_Engl...
    - david 12y ago
      I think he meant in San Francisco rent control began as a response to prop 13, not that rent control itself began in san francisco.
      - anigbrowl 12y ago
        Oh yes, that would make sense.
- deleted 12y ago
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anigbrowl 12y ago

I hate rent control, but I think it's a symptom of incumbents' unwillingness to allow more development, on the grounds that it would lower the value of the property they own (or more realistically, slow that value's rate of increase). A fixed-rate mortgage is basically rent control for better-off people; typically the mortgage-holder pays off a small bit of principal each month and pays rent on the outstanding amount. So if we want to outlaw rent control, we should outlaw fixed rate mortgages too, and eliminate the artificial cap on property taxes (something that corporations exploit by using shell companies to 'own' commercial real estate, and then transferring ownership or voting control of the shell company while shielding themselves from property tax on the current value of the real estate). But we both know that that's not likely to happen.

muzz 12y ago
> I hate rent control, but I think it's a symptom of incumbents' unwillingness to allow more development, No. It began in SF as a very-specific response to Prop 13, which is essentially property-tax-control Both are bad policies in terms of market distortion and are often the overlooked elephants in the room in discussion of housing supply and affordability.
- anigbrowl 12y ago
  What? Rent control did not originate in San Francisco, and has been around a lot longer than Proposition 13. Its history in modern economics goes back to world War 1, and the concept of economic rents and the need to regulate them originates with Adam Smith in the 18th century. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_England_and_Wales#1915_to_1939 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_Engl...
  - david 12y ago
    I think he meant in San Francisco rent control began as a response to prop 13, not that rent control itself began in san francisco.
    - anigbrowl 12y ago
      Oh yes, that would make sense.
deleted 12y ago
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