Monday, November 27, 2006

More Fare for the Unknowledgeable

Greg Mankiw thinks that the appeal of the minimum wage is that it can be used to dupe the unknowledgeable into thinking one is more concerned about poor people than others. Here in NYC, and around the world, rent control is used by politicians in the same way. It is a simplistic (and unfortunately as convincing as it is erroneous) way to say you are on the side of the poor versus the greedy commercial interests; and, people don't equate their dreadful living conditions with rent control. In Amsterdam they seem pretty dreadful, but it is those greed office developers and not the 1901 rent control law, you see.

2 Comments:

Blogger Tax Shelter said...

Is rent control popular with renters? If so, then the politicians are right, price control works in getting votes.

2:16 PM  
Blogger Donny Baseball said...

yes it does and yes the pols are right in that. But I wonder how long residents of Amsterdam will buy it given what the article describes.

3:52 PM  

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