Monterey rent

“Monterey rent”, Monterey Herald – Oct. 1, 2023

The City Council of Monterey is poised to impose rent registry/control on a population who, for the most part, remain unsuspecting of the damage to result.

New York Times progressive columnist and Princeton University economist Paul Krugman published a frequently cited column on rent control in 2000.  He wrote, “The analysis of rent control is among the best-understood issues in all of economics, and – among economists anyway – one of the least controversial. In 1992, a poll of the American Economic Association found 93 percent of its members agreeing that a ceiling on rents reduces the quality and quantity of housing.”

Nothing much has changed since.  Based on bitter experience, 37 states now either prohibit or preempt rent control.  If rent control passes, many Monterey landlords and even many Monterey tenants and potential tenants will lose.

— Thomas F. Lee, Monterey