It’s one of the peculiarities of the interaction between economics and politics that the idea of price controls is roundly dismissed as a wrongheaded remnant of command economies while rent control maintains a prominent place in urban political debates. Economists hate the policy, with good reason, but political calculus makes it very difficult to get rid of the idea once and for all.

So it is that an updated rent control policy has gained traction in the District. According to the Washington Post, the D.C. Council yesterday gave unanimous preliminary approval to a new rent control bill, final consideration of which will come in June. The bill would eliminate the current rent-ceiling policy, which is often rendered ineffectual by ceilings set high above market rents, and it would establish a system of annual rent increase policies, all of which would only affect structures built before 1975. Says the Post:

Under the plan, which faces a final vote next month, rent increases for seniors and the disabled would be limited to increases within the rate of inflation. For all other renters, yearly jumps would be capped at 2 percent plus inflation. Rent increases on newly vacant apartments would be capped at 30 percent.