Interesting thesis Polly

The implosion of one of Labour’s rotten boroughs shows that the Tories will lose?

And no, no, they’re not are they?

Hurry forward with policies in the making on house building, rent controls

Rent fucking control?

Have these people lost their minds?

Tags: Your Tax Money At Work

1 bilbaoboy // Apr 3, 2012 at 9:27 am

Yes
2 John B // Apr 3, 2012 at 9:34 am

“Have these people lost their minds?”

In order to do that, they would need to have minds in the first place.
3 Steve // Apr 3, 2012 at 10:58 am

Rent Controls – the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for carpet bombing.
4 Luis Enrique // Apr 3, 2012 at 12:32 pm

this JEP article “Time for revisionism on rent control?” may interest some

http://www.jstor.org/stable/2138358
5 Edward Lud // Apr 3, 2012 at 1:28 pm

Seems to be behind a paywall, Luis.
6 Ken // Apr 3, 2012 at 5:47 pm

@Edward Lud
The paper suggests that second generation rent controls (which allow for rent increases and maintenance costs etc) might be optimal in non perfectly competitive markets. But then agrees that the political economy of even second gen rent controls might not be good. (just because it could be good in theory doesnt mean it is in practice good).

Here’s a fairly standard view of rent controls eventually published in the EJ in 2000;

http://www.arts.cornell.edu/econ/CAE/rentcontrol.pdf
7 Ian B // Apr 3, 2012 at 6:33 pm

Well, to be fair, if you’re going to have land controls, you probably also need rent controls. Just to make sure your intention of denying the bulk of the population a decent place to live is thoroughly achieved.

Tim Worstall