Rent controls on some New York properties push up prices for other tenants

Unanimity among economists is rare but if there is one issue that unites practitioners of the dismal science, it is rent controls. Almost universally, they consider them a bad idea.

Expertise, however, is fast going out of fashion in politics and this week Jeremy Corbyn raised the prospect of the state determining how much private landlords can charge.

In his speech, the Labour leader gave few details, saying only that “rent controls exist in many cities across the world and I want our cities to have those powers”. That opens a lot of possibilities, with different models operating from Pyongyang to Palm Springs.

The problem he is trying to deal with is clear at least. Rents have soared in recent years and now account for