You probably heard about the two-year rent freeze in Zohran Mamdani's New York City.
You will think I am being unkind because of the words I use. I'm afraid I have a habit of using unkind words for people who actively promote, or are complicit in, the destruction of society.
Very low-IQ people are cheering for it, because they are incapable of thinking -- indeed, are positively unwilling to think -- beyond the most obvious and immediate effects; asking them to consider second- and third-tier effects is like explaining quantum physics to a Neanderthal.
Economist Walter Block makes a good point: if you wanted to lower rental prices through price controls (you shouldn't, but if you did), you should instead want to impose controls on all other things in the economy except rent, because then all kinds of entrepreneurs would flock to build rental properties, pushing supply up and rental prices down.
Perry Metzger, whom I've been happy to feature as a guest on the Tom Woods Show, told the story of rent control in New York:
In the 1960s through 1970s, huge numbers of buildings in New York City were abandoned, because their owners could not make enough money to cover the expense of providing apartments to their tenants, could not legally get rid of their tenants so long as the building stood, and could not sell their buildings because no one wanted an “asset” that permanently lost money month after month.
The only non-destructive recourse that they had available was to disappear, and so thousands of buildings eventually had their landlords vanish. A relatively small number of landlords hired arsonists to burn their buildings to the ground, because the destruction of the building was literally the only means by which a lease could be broken, leaving them at least with a vacant lot that didn’t cost them money. Large chunks of the city started to resemble a war zone.
Now I could run through the standard economic argument against rent control. Every aspect of that traditional argument against rent control is correct. The economists are completely right. And yet none of it would change the minds of 98 percent of people cheering for this policy, because they are not motivated by reason.
Don't believe me? Check out the social media discussion of the topic. It consists of people taking bizarre delight in wishing impoverishment upon people whose crime is to have made rental housing available to the public.
Mamdani himself may not be quite Einstein, but he's no fool, either. He knows that a policy like this will make these properties no longer viable, at which point he and his ideological compatriots can blame "the failure of capitalism" and take over the properties directly.
You can send him all the copies of Henry Hazlitt's Economics in One Lesson you want, but that book assumes it's dealing with people of good will who want what is best for mankind. That book does not work for any other kind of person.
So:
I am a sentimental person, and I love New York very much. I won't stop visiting, because I have friends there and things I enjoy doing, and because I don't allow politics to deprive me of things I love.
But:
I could not live there. They are coming for you. If I lived there, I would get out. With a heavy heart, to be sure, but I would get out.
The other thing I would do, I reserve for the P.S.
Tom Woods
P.S. I actually feel weird sharing huge testimonials, because they seem unbelievable to most people. I like more modest success stories because people can more easily identify with them. But facts are facts, and here is the most recent unsolicited Low Stress Options testimonial from one of my readers, who after a year in the program generated $380K, retired early, and moved to New Hampshire to join the Free State Project:
If that's too small to read (you can always click on the graphic to enlarge it), here's what it says:
As I’m sure is true of many students here, my first trade was June 23rd of last year. Endless thanks to Tom W., Troy B., John S., and the rest of the team for creating and promoting this program. It is truly life-changing.
I’ll never forget the week I spent last June traveling with my wife to New Hampshire to scout out a town to move to, spend time at PorcFest, hike in the White Mountains, and in the evenings work through the LST course. One year and ~$380k of premium later, we’ve moved to the lovely waterfront of Dover, NH and connected with the brilliant community of Free Staters here. FSP Executive Director Eric Brakey, who is local to here, even helped me move in! I couldn’t be happier with the results of LST, nor with what it has allowed me to do. Specifically: I was able to retire in my mid-thirties and join the liberty community in this beautiful state, something that would have been impossible with my old day job.
That seems too good to be true. I totally get it. But this is happening inside the program -- not everyone is at that level, but everyone is excited about it, I can tell you that.
It will be outside your comfort zone. But if we're going to protect our wealth against the evil bastards, we probably have to step outside the comfort zone.
I'm holding a live call every weekday this week at 5pm Eastern with program creator Troy Broussard. Bring your skepticism and your questions, but for heaven's sake be there.
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