A new win for stupidity

These days, some New York radio stations are running commericials in support of a rent freeze for working families in New York. Strangely, the commercials claim to be statements from small landlords who want the freeze to help both the tenants and the landlords. Listeners are urged to call Albany to tell legislators that they support the freeze.

To say that this is a strange commercial does not do it justice. After all, if the landlord thinks a freeze would be a good thing, he can stop raising rents himself. Even iin New York, there is nothing that mandates rent increases. There is nothing that indicates that a government imposition of a freeze would function better than the free market to set rents. Indeed, rents in New York City have declined substantially over the last 18 months. Is the freeze a way to keep rents from declining further so as to help tenants? Of course not. Tenants would want further declines in the rent. All that a rent freeze would accomplish is to disrupt the rental market and lead ultimately to a diminution in the supply of apartments. After decades pof struggles in New York to do away with Rent control (a temporary measure to deal with housing shortages during World War 2 that persists to this day) and rent stabilization (a forty plus year old program that also will not die), it would be a tragedy if the state were to step back towards government control of rents in a way that will hurt any recovery in the economy. Such a law would be a new win for stupidity.