Why Californians Must Resist Rent-Control Temptation

It's not hard to understand why 450,000 Californians would sign the initiative to repeal limits on rent control in the state. Of the top 10 most expensive major city rental markets in the United States, four — San Francisco, San Jose, Los Angeles and Oakland — are in California. The effects are well-known and serious. Those who would move from parts of the country with high unemployment to Silicon Valley, for instance, find they cannot afford to do so, leading some economists to link California's housing costs to increased income inequality.