10 Things You Didn’t Know About Capitalism

by Austin Petersen

#7. The Rent Is Too Damn Low! 

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Rent control may sound like a good idea, but it sure isn’t for some people. People have been hornswoggled by politicians into believing that government caps on apartment rental rates help poor tenants, but let’s just see what happens with rent control when it’s instituted. 

The first inevitable consequence is that there’s a housing shortage. When government intervenes in the marketplace, the tenants will begin renting more apartments. Prices are signals, and when the free market sets the prices for an apartment, the demand will rise to meet the supplies. But when the supply prices are artificially lowered by government, people will naturally want to rent more units, decreasing the available supply. 

Landlords are then incentivized to rent out fewer units. After all, why rent out more units if you’re going to lose out on money?

“It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from regard to their own interest. Nobody but a beggar chooses to depend chiefly upon the benevolence of his fellow citizens.” -Adam Smith 

Austin Petersen is a homegrown Missourian with a lifelong passion for liberty. He grew up on a horse farm in Peculiar, Missouri and went on to attend Missouri State University, graduating with a degree in the Fine Arts. After developing a career in media in both New York City and Washington, D.C., he returned to Kansas City, MO, the city he now calls home. In 2016, Petersen appeared on the national stage as a candidate for president of the United States. He took second place in the crowded Libertarian primary behind Governor Gary Johnson and ahead of cyber security maverick John McAfee. During his campaign, Petersen earned many high-profile conservative endorsements, including Mary Matalin, Erick Erickson and Leon Wolf of RedState.com. Petersen also brings decades of professional experience in a wide variety of fields, from content production and media to business and political activism. He is the owner and chief executive of Stonegait LLC, a consulting firm specializing in photo and video services. He was also the director of production at FreedomWorks and an associate producer for Judge Andrew Napolitano’s show “Freedom Watch” on the Fox Business Network. Additionally, Petersen has a national following as a commentator and professional pundit. He is the founder of The Libertarian Republic, a powerful online news source for the public that receives an average of 1 million unique visits monthly and whose podcast, The Freedom Report, receives an average of one million monthly downloads. He is also a frequent contributor on television, appearing on Fox News, Fox Business, CNN, MSNBC and on dozens of local radio shows.

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