Rent Contol: Open-and-Shut Case?

[Brad De Long]

>On Thu, 8 Jun 2000, Brad De Long wrote:
>
>>  But it doesn't keep a "lid on rents": it keeps a lid on rents for
>>  long-term residents; it raises the effective price of housing for
>>  people moving to New York.
>>
>>  If you want to privilege long-term inhabitants by giving them rent
>>  breaks and raise the price of housing to people migrating into the
>>  city, at least be clear in your mind what you are doing...
>
>This is a fair cop -- rent control makes a privileged class out of people
>out of people who got here first, a kind of housing seniority system. 
>But that's got nothing to do with Krugman's argument that it causes the
>housing shortage and high rents.
>
>Michael

I think Krugman's argument is that it *would* cause a housing 
shortage if restrictions on increasing density weren't already 
causing a housing shortage...

Brad DeLong