Additional Econ 101 point: On net, price controls don’t reduce the price paid by consumers. They just change its form, and make trade less efficient. During the “energy crisis” price controls on gasoline changed the make-up of the full price from money and a minor amount of time spent acquiring gasoline to a slightly smaller amount of money and a whole lot of time and inconvenience. Before it reached the gas line stage, though, the definition of filling your tank started to change, from “full service,” which included an attendant checking your oil and washing your windows, to very little or no attendant service. The “crisis” of the late 70’s actually saw almost as much gasoline pumped as in previous years, just spread over far fewer hours of operation. Convenience became another associated characteristic of a fill-up to be reduced as the economy adjusted to the oil supply situation without actually adjusting money prices.

The New York City rent control laws are up for renewal again (for some state constitutional reason that I’ve never tried to understand, NYC rent control laws have to be approved by the New York State legislature, so periodically they become big news up where I live). Like gas in the 70’s, rent control laws do not reduce the cost of housing in NYC. In the best case they switch the form of the “payment” to rent plus something else (i.e., a bribe). In the worst case they serve to change the definition of the product (i.e., landlords allow the housing stock to deteriorate).

Comically, legally the rent control laws are supposed to last only until the housing crisis abates (language like that is actually in the state law). But rent controls cause the crisis.

Politically the large chunk of the NYC electorate that have already paid their bribes to get under the rent control tent make it very difficult to get a reasonable law passed. My suggestion: make rent control a salable asset. Recognize that the existing tenants have a partial ownership right in the rent charged for their apartments, and allow them to sell that right. Since that right is most efficiently held by the same person who owns the rest of the property, eventually effectively all rent controls will be neutered. And renters shouldn’t oppose it, since they will potentially be receiving a large windfall gain.

This, BTW, is what happened in Hong Kong a generation or two ago. During the height of the economic planning craze, Hong Kong imposed rent controls. But a judge ruled that the renters had a salable ownership right in the rent control law, and renters sold it back to the landlords.