We hope the pinheads in the White House who think price controls will bring sticker prices down are reading the HOTLINE.
They would learn that President Javier Milei repealed Argentina’s rent control law at the end of 2023, but the Law of Supply remains in universal effect.
Hence this headline:
For many locals, finding a new apartment had become “mission impossible.” But after the repeal, Buenos Aires saw a doubling of available rental units, and rental prices have stabilized. Under the new rules, landlords and tenants have more freedom to agree on lease terms. If the duration isn’t specified, it defaults to two years.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in rental apartments, and in some cases, we had to lower prices in pesos because of fewer viewings,” Soledad Balayan, head of the real-estate agency Maure Inmobiliaria, told Argentine newspaper La Nación.
Since Millei’s repeal of rent control laws took effect on December 29, the supply of rental housing in Buenos Aires has jumped by 195.23%, according to the Statistical Observatory of the Real Estate Market of the Real Estate College (CI).
Swedish economist Assar Lindbeck once famously wrote: “In many cases rent control appears to be the most efficient technique presently known to destroy a city–except for bombing.”
In 1989, the Foreign Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Co Thach, said rent control was even worse than bombing: “The Americans couldn’t destroy Hanoi, but we have destroyed our city by very low rents” imposed by the government.
Naturally, Kamala Harris is presently campaigning for president on a national rent control policy: “We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.”
What could go wrong?