Few policies raise economists’ ire as much as rent control.
“In many cases,” Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously said, “rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city — except for bombing.”
Nonetheless, President Biden, along with Vice President Kamala Harris, recently proposed a nationwide rent cap, which would limit rent increases by certain landlords at no more than 5% per year.
Many observers doubtless had a similar reaction to Jason Furman, the former top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, who said: “Rent control has been about as disgraced as any economic policy in the tool kit.”
The rent-control plan is by far the most extreme of the administration’s policies toward landlords, but it is part of a long-term trend.
Soon after Biden entered office, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention extended a temporary eviction moratorium that had begun under President Donald Trump and had already been extended for one more month by Congress.
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Judge Glock is the director of research and a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal. Adapted from City Journal online.
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