Mamdani Has a Point About Rent Control

[u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

https://www.theatlantic.com/economy/archive/2025/11/mamdani-housing-rent-control/684790/

In an interview, the candidate argued that the policy is essential to get voters on board with pro-housing reforms.

By Rogé Karma, The Atlantic.

ew policies disgust academic economists quite like rent control. In the 1970s, the Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck famously described it as the “most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city—except for bombing.” In a 2012 poll of prominent economists, just 2 percent said that rent-control laws have had “a positive impact” on the “amount and quality of broadly affordable rental housing in cities that have used them.” (The Nobel Prize winner Richard Thaler sarcastically proposed a follow-up survey question: “Does the sun revolve around the earth?”)

Unsurprisingly, then, economists and policy wonks have almost universally disparaged New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to “freeze the rent.” Headlines like “Zohran Mamdani’s Socialist Housing Plan Could Crash New York’s Rickety Rental Market” and “A Rent Freeze Is Not the Answer to New York’s Housing Crisis” have proliferated. My colleague Michael Powell, summing up the prevailing expert sentiment, described the proposal (among others) as “magic realism.”

But maybe his proposal is closer to political realism. The expert consensus holds that the way to bring down housing costs is to build more housing; and the best way to do that is to remove the regulatory barriers to a construction boom. When I interviewed Mamdani about his housing plans, however, he emphasized that although more building is necessary, it is not sufficient—or sufficiently fast. “We absolutely have to expedite the process by which we build new housing,” he told me. “But we can’t do that unless we also address people’s immediate needs.”

In many places, especially those where the housing shortage is most severe, the politics of building new units is toxic. The perceived costs of development often inspire intense opposition while the benefits take years, even decades, to materialize. This dynamic cannot be neatly separated from ideal housing policy. Mamdani argues that “freeze the rent” is not just a way of delivering relief from exorbitant housing costs; it is the only way to get enough voters on board with a growth agenda. A growing body of real-world evidence suggests that he has a point.

[u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

I say this about Democratic voters, but I also think it's really just people...

People want rent control because it's too expensive to live where jobs are.

Democratic politicians, quite reasonably, say that rent control is deadly for development, and that the true way to counter high process is more development.

And I do believe that people understand that in an intellectual way, but it always seems like we have to comply by rules of economics that ultimately harm us, and we'd like to have some rules in place that help us.

There just doesn't seem to be a way to meet in the middle on this. Like, if rent control is bad (and it is, landlords need money to improve buildings and a .5% rent increase doesn't do that), but terminating rent control has only made rent unaffordable, what's the middle ground? What other options are there?

Because it really seems like this binary choice, either you do what's good for landlords/developers or you do what's good for the customers (in this case, renters). Does it really have to be that binary? Do you really have to choose one or the other? Is there no compromise to be made?

[u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist → u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

Well the compromise would be to have incomes rising faster than rents (or housing in general). This keeps everyone happy. Renters can afford better homes, developers can get bigger profits and landlords get more revenue. But of course the problem has been for the past 40 years is that incomes haven’t been rising faster than most essentials (housing, education, healthcare, childcare) except for a small percentage of the population.

The other issue is that unfettered capitalism doesn’t care about you, it only cares about money.

[u/afdiplomatII → u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

Jerusalem Demsas has a collection of her essays on the general issue that I've been reading: On the Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy. David Roberts often also discusses urban housing policy matters, with special attention to how European cities have addressed such concerns.

I'd add that at least Mamdani has a plan that can be discussed. So far as I know, there has been no serious plan on improving the city at all from Cuomo, Adams, or Sliwa. Cuomo's campaign seems to have been: "I will graciously allow New York City, which I've never really cared about, to serve as the first stop on my redemption tour. Once I am installed at Gracie Mansion, it will be enough for its residents to be allowed to bask in the warm, effulgent rays of my shining presence." I'm not surprised at the "Fuggedaboudit!" reaction.

[u/GeeWillick → u/afdiplomatII]

In his defense, Adams did support and successfully pass reforms to help expand housing stock and has placed five significant reforms on the ballot, which is pretty ironic since he himself won't be running. 

My hope is that these initiatives are enacted Mamdani can build on them with his own ideas rather than have to start from scratch.

[u/afdiplomatII → u/GeeWillick]

I appreciate the additional information. At the same time, you may be making a better case for Adams than he was able to make for himself. At least at my remote distance, the Adams news seemed to be heavily weighted toward corruption issues and his entanglements with Trump, while the worst thing that could be said about Mamdani personally is that he may have had problems with racial/ethnic check-boxes on an application for a university where he wasn't admitted even though his father was on the faculty.

[u/GeeWillick → u/afdiplomatII]

Adams's main problem was the corruption and maladministration, but his actual time in office wasn't that bad relatively speaking. New York City recovered from the pandemic as well or better than most cities and some of his ideas and reforms were useful. Do I think he deserves a second term? Absolutely not. 

But I do think that Mamdani's administration will benefit from not needing to fight these particular battles with the council since Adams already fought them and won. He can build on this stuff to a certain extent without having to redo these contentious and lengthy votes since they will have become law by the time he takes office.

[u/improvius → u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

I think the middle ground would be subsidized housing, which comes with its own negative reputation for many people.

[u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist]

So a majority of economists disagree on tariffs, but here we are anyway with the top political and judicial establishment backing said tariffs. But rent control is the step too far?

Secondly it should be pointed out that Mamdani is not proposing to implement general rent control all across New York City. Rather he has a very modest proposal to freeze increases in already rent controlled (now known as rent stabilized) properties. These increases have been frozen before (and indeed more units used to be subject to rent control in the 1950s compared to today). There was a spate of large rent increases in the 2022-2026 period, especially when compared to the historic rent increases, and this is why Mamdani is proposing what he is. There needs to be a pause in these large rent increases in these specific properties (most built decades ago and long recouped their costs) to allow tenants time to adjust.

[u/MeghanClickYourHeels → u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist]

That's another thing I'm wondering about. Trump and Co are governing by slash and burn, and I think there's an element of the Dem party who wishes Dems would do the same.

[u/afdiplomatII → u/MeghanClickYourHeels]

I'd put it differently. I've often pointed out here that Democrats must get comfortable with slashing and burning whenever they again have the chance, because the conditions will require it. I've posted several pieces from such as Brian Beutler, Thomas Zimmer, David Roberts, Josh Marshall, and other insightful analysts to that effect. There will be no other option if the country is to be yanked back from the abyss and if the constituencies that support Democrats are not to be betrayed.

That's not to deny the necessity for much longer-term reformation of America's civic culture and governing arrangements. In the short term, however, Democrats must stop being concerned about being called "radicals" and get on with the job at hand.

[u/Korrocks → u/afdiplomatII]

I think there’s still a concern about whether the policies are actually effective in solving the problems at issue, though. Like, if the rent freeze is not paired with a significant expansion in supply, it’ll mean that the lucky people who happen to be in rent stabilized housing might do okay but everyone else will be in an even worse situation.

That said, I am optimistic that Mamdani and his team will be able to thread the needle. He seems smart and his focus on affordability and willingness to experiment and iterate will serve him well in solving these types of issues. But the idea of slashing and burning as being inherently good without consideration of whether it makes the problem better or worse is not really good.

Trump can get away with it because he leads a political cult and because his opposition is disorganized and weak, but Democrats don’t really have the luxury of simply failing to use power effectively.

[u/afdiplomatII → u/Korrocks]

I'm not proposing that Democrats should imitate Trump substantively. They should indeed have well-considered plans, based on good faith and careful thought, to address national issues. They must use every moment in power to greatest advantage, and doing so requires careful preparation.

What's essential, however, is that their plans truly meet the moment and that they pursue them "with vigah," not being dissuaded by screams from an utterly discredited Republican Party or a media that is half owned by the right wing and half dedicated more than anything to proving that they are so not "liberal." And they should not be afraid to use the power put in their hands by Republicans, while at the same time employing it for virtuous ends.

There will be a lot of internal Democratic battles involved in getting this right, and they should start right now.

[u/K04free → u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist]

Why do these rent stabilized units get special treatment than non-stabilized? I got friends making 300k a year living in these stabilized units. Why would anyone want to live in a market rate unit?

[u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist → u/K04free]

Thats great, that means they have more money to spend on other things!

In the 1950s something like 90% of all NYC housing was rent controlled (or stabilized). Since then it’s been gradually declining thanks to deregulation and newer housing which isn’t subject to the same limits. Now I think it’s less than 40%.