Rent Controls Are A Disaster. Berlin is the Latest Cautionary Tale.

Rent controls seem like a logical thing to do. When housing becomes unaffordable, why not put in a control to stop landlords from gouging tenants because there is more demand than supply? Unfortunately, the numbers from city after city that have tried this are dismal. Berlin is the latest example, where the caps are good for those already in regulated apartments (those built before 2014), but “simultaneously, they hurt all other groups, especially young people and those coming from other cities, by all but shutting them out of the market.”

The entire story is a sad reminder of just how little value legislators and leaders often place on learning from history or seeking insights from experts, foreign colleagues or countries. When you refuse to ask for help or seek out advice from those who have been there before, you doom yourself to repeat the same mistakes they already made.