A book that addressed and refuted the best arguments for price controls would be valuable. From the blurbs, this is not that book.
For example, if it has been virtually impossible to build new residential space in, say, NYC for decades, would it be a good idea to allow property owners to collect all those scarcity rents? Of course, rent controls are bad, (so is the de facto cap on the price of CO2 emissions at zero) but might some form be less bad than no control at all?
Unfortunately for Libertarians, price changes have not only efficiency effects meaning that governments should generally leave them alone) but income distribution effects (meaning that governments may need to intervene). Arguments that simply ignore income distribution are not helpful.
A book that addressed and refuted the best arguments for price controls would be valuable. From the blurbs, this is not that book.
For example, if it has been virtually impossible to build new residential space in, say, NYC for decades, would it be a good idea to allow property owners to collect all those scarcity rents? Of course, rent controls are bad, (so is the de facto cap on the price of CO2 emissions at zero) but might some form be less bad than no control at all?
Unfortunately for Libertarians, price changes have not only efficiency effects meaning that governments should generally leave them alone) but income distribution effects (meaning that governments may need to intervene). Arguments that simply ignore income distribution are not helpful.