Source; Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne
“Aweekend NYT op-ed by Neale Mahoney and Bharat Ramamurti has caused a stir. It argues that policymakers should be open to considering price controls, given voters’ discontent about the cost of living. Price controls, the authors say, are a ‘tool’ to be used carefully. The key is to ‘design’ them to avoid the classic long-term consequences of ‘less investment’ in supply, but keep the benefits of providing ‘immediate relief’ to customers through lower prices. … Would ‘immediate relief’ via price controls really prove temporary as new supply is brought onboard? Mahoney-Ramamurti provide no historical or contemporary examples of such a bundle.” (11/17/25)