Overview
- Victories by Zohran Mamdani in New York on a rent freeze platform and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey on an electricity rate freeze signal new political traction for price caps.
- Economists Neale Mahoney and Bharat Ramamurti argue for narrowly targeted, temporary controls alongside concrete supply measures to bridge the gap before new capacity comes online.
- They recommend safeguards such as sunset clauses, clear eligibility rules, and funded timelines for building housing and expanding energy generation and transmission.
- Skeptics cite historical evidence that caps can deter investment and cause shortages, pointing to Nixon-era gasoline lines and rent-control outcomes in Cambridge and San Francisco.
- A Forbes analysis adds that shortages are not universally welfare-reducing but warns housing is a necessity with chronic undersupply, making broad rent freezes especially risky and prone to becoming permanent.