My answer is that price controls have both an efficacy cost and a redistributional benefit (from the POV of the proponent of the control). Those who wish to prevent the efficiency cost need to come up with better ways to accomplish the redistribution. I have little sympathy with discussions of minimum wages that do not conclude discussing a wage subsidy.
I'd even argue that historically there were fewer ways to do things, so the cost of a price control was lower, there just being fewer "inefficient" configuration of resource allocations. A price control on grain during a Medieval crop failure just redistribute income w/o reducing availability of grain. Today it could prevent more grain from being grown elsewhere and transported to the area of famine.
My answer is that price controls have both an efficacy cost and a redistributional benefit (from the POV of the proponent of the control). Those who wish to prevent the efficiency cost need to come up with better ways to accomplish the redistribution. I have little sympathy with discussions of minimum wages that do not conclude discussing a wage subsidy.
I'd even argue that historically there were fewer ways to do things, so the cost of a price control was lower, there just being fewer "inefficient" configuration of resource allocations. A price control on grain during a Medieval crop failure just redistribute income w/o reducing availability of grain. Today it could prevent more grain from being grown elsewhere and transported to the area of famine.