I don&#x27;t think it&#x27;s absurd.  There are definitely some hard policy questions.  However, that said, Krugman, an economist many populists like to cite agrees with their position.  Rent control is short-term good, long-term bad.<p>The solution is one of two things, more housing units, or fewer residents in a given area --look at any town&#x2F;city where there is a pronounced long-term population decline, do you see a similar, &quot;minimum rent&quot; control?  No, but you do see rent go down and typically the place suffers many ills.<p>All it comes down to is everyone wants in when the going is good and everyone wants out when the going gets bad.