Hey there. It's Stephen Dubner, and yes, we are busting into your Freconomics radio feed with a bonus episode.

In 2019, we put out an episode about a problem and a possible solution.

The problem was rising rents, particularly in coastal cities.

The proposed solution was rent control, laws that put a limit and what landlords can charge.

You can see why that might seem to be a sensible solution, but nearly all economists agree, based on volumes of research, that rent control does

more harm than good.

Since we made that episode, the problem has gotten worse, according to a report from Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies, rents have risen

26% nationally and even more in cities like New York, which has become the poster child

for the rent crisis.

And so once again, policy makers have returned to the idea of rent control.

Just this month, the Biden administration pushed Congress to pass legislation

that would force landlords with more than 50 units to cap annual rent

increases at 5% or risk losing federal tax breaks.

So we thought it was a good time to revisit that 2019 episode about rent control and

why it does not work.

We have updated facts and figures where necessary. As always, thanks for listening.

I'm sure you know this already, but let me say it anyway. Cities have become really popular all

over the world. An ever larger share of the US and global population lives in cities and that large shares

expected to get even larger.

As demand for city living grows, the supply of housing often can't keep up, which results in, and you know this too, arise in prices.

In the US, median rent has doubled since the 1990s, outpacing inflation by quite a bit. In many cities, this

makes it hard for people who already live there to stay and hard for people who'd

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