Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given

After New York City’s race for mayor catapulted Zohran Mamdani from state assembly member into one of the world’s most prominent progressive voices, intense debate swirled over the ideas at the heart of his campaign.

His critics and opponents painted pledges such as free bus service, universal child care and rent freezes as unworkable, unrealistic and exorbitantly expensive.

But some have hit back, highlighting the quirk of geography that underpins some of this view. “He promised things that Europeans take for granted, but Americans are told are impossible,” said Dutch environmentalist and former government advisor Alexander Verbeek in the wake of Tuesday’s election.

Verbeek backed this with a comment he had overheard in an Oslo café, in which Mamdani was described as an American politician who “finally” sounded normal.

  • Don_alForno@feddit.org
    231·
    4 hours ago

    They are not intended to create housing, they are intended to keep those who are already living in the area from being driven out by rising cost of rent.

    There are lots of unintended side effects like having to pay bribes to get a contract at all.

    That’s a consequence of too little availability, not of rent freezes.

    Rent freezes are only good for those who already have an affordable housing.

    Which should be the top priority before enabling more migration into an overheated housing market.

      • merdaverse@lemmy.zip
        2·
        2 hours ago

        You cite neoliberal garbage that has a childish strawman argument against a socialist on its main page. There are plenty of good arguments to make in favor of rent control that are biased the other way, the one that is not subservient to capitalist market forces and interests.

        Jacobin has many articles in favor of rent control, written by economists that have looked at the data.

        While the Econ 101 view treats its own goals as a trump card, democratic societies — accountable to the public, not only economists — are permitted to weigh these competing policy goals against each other. […] These include, most obviously, limiting rent increases but also preventing displacement and evictions, slowing the pace of gentrification, and even guaranteeing a right to housing for all.

        And here is another one that looks at multiple studies and finds that the negative effect on supply are mixed and marginal at best.