Democrat Gov Candidate Ryan Taylor Says It’s “Unfortunate” That Rent Control Is Illegal In ND

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Written By:
Rob Port

Jul 16, 2012
9:36am

In this week’s “Ask Your Government” column (which is a great feature by the way), Teri Finneman tackles the question of rent control and whether or not it’s legal in North Dakota. Among the political leaders she asked the question were two Democrat state Senators, Tim Mathern (who ran for governor four years ago against John Hoeven) and Ryan Taylor (who is running for governor in the current cycle).

I thought Taylor’s answer to the question was interesting, as he apparently thinks it’s “unfortunate” that the government can’t control prices for private property.

“Unfortunately, over a decade ago, the North Dakota Legislature passed a law that deemed rent control illegal, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t begin to talk about other ways the state can help reduce the rent burden of the people living in oil-impacted communities.”

He goes on to talk about government solutions like “incentives” for low-income housing (solutions alleged “Republican” Jack Dalrymple is already implementing), but let’s just pause for a moment to reflect on how scary it is that we have a candidate on the statewide policy who has so little respect for private property.

We may not like what some landlords are doing with rents during housing shortages in western North Dakota, but since when should prices be set by public opinion? What’s more, when demand increases and supply doesn’t, prices should go up. That’s how the market slows demand and accumulate capital to build more supply.

Rent control, when exercised in other parts of the country, has led to nothing but exacerbated housing shortages and destroyed communities. As is true in every other part of our economy, when the government impedes the laws of supply and demand it results in shortages and suffering.