A few years ago, St Paul, Minnesota passed the strictest rent control in the country.
Politicians promised it would “end profiteering.” Activists cheered.
Here’s what really happened.
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“This is such a step backwards,” economist Salim Furth of the Mercatus Center told me when the law passed, “it’s going to hurt renters!”
He was right.
Developers fled. New construction fell.
Now residents complain, “The lack of housing… it’s a crisis.”
The mayor who once supported the law had second thoughts.
Now, St Paul’s city council has voted to loosen the law.
I’d think other politicians would learn from St Paul’s failure. But no, my socialist mayor just froze rent on a million apartments in New York City!
Above, we cover how rent control failed in St Paul, and why New York will be next.
