Note: This is post #26 in a weekly video series on basic microeconomics.

Rent controls are a type of price ceiling where the government regulates the amounts charged for rented housing. In this video by Marginal Revolution University, Alex Tabarrox shows how rent controls reduce the quality of housing and create shortages by reducing the supply of apartments available on the market.

(If you find the pace of the videos too slow, I’d mend watching them at 1.5 to 2 times the speed. You can adjust the speed at which the video plays by clicking on “Settings” (the gear symbol) and changing “Speed” from normal to 1.25, 1.5 or 2.)

Previous in series:How price controls can hurt the poor