Overview
Does rent control help or hurt the communities it’s supposed to serve? What are the potential consequences of rent control on housing markets? In this segment, John Stossel discusses efforts by policymakers to enact rent control and the unintended consequences of their actions.

Enter your email address below to access these resources

To help ensure our emails reach your inbox, you may provide a personal email address to bypass school spam filters.

Grade level and subjects
• Recommended for grades 6-12
• Subjects: Government
• Works in Classroom, Hybrid, and Homeschool settings

What students will learn
By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
• discuss the positive and negative impact of rent control policies;
• give examples of the negative impact of rent control; and
• differentiate between the intended and unintended consequences of rent control.

Key concepts and terms covered
Extractive, Predatory, and Profiteering.

Sample discussion questions
• How does supply, demand, and price apply to rental housing?
• Why do you think Aisha Chughtai, a Minneapolis city council member, paused so often when she spoke?
• Why is the Minneapolis City Council hesitant to adopt St. Paul’s rent control rules?
• There are many more renters than landlords. Do you think there might be a political reason that politicians advocate for rent control?
• How does rent control impact the relationship between tenants and landlords? Does it foster cooperation and stability, or does it create tensions and conflicts over rent levels and property maintenance?

What’s in the free teacher’s guide
This printable 11-page Teacher's Guide includes a lesson description, learning objectives, key vocabulary, a fill-in viewing guide with answer key, discussion and analysis questions, and classroom activities.

Standards alignment
Aligned to state standards — use the SITC Standards Tool to match this video to the standards in your state.