CNN’s Fareed Zakaria is making a mistake that many of us make when trying to point out that the mayors and legislators behind policies known to fail—such as rent control, increased taxes, and free food—ignore the negative consequences. He assumes they don’t understand. The truth is, they do understand. They simply don’t care.
Mayors like Mamdani, Wu, Bass, and Johnson understand the political benefits of policies targeting landlords, property owners, businesses, and homeowners. They understand that rent-controlled tenants and those receiving free food and transportation far outnumber the above groups and will vote for them. Since the life expectations of their political base (e.g., rent-controlled tenants, recipients of free food, transit riders who cannot afford to pay, the homeless, etc.) are low, the decline these policies will bring is considered unimportant to their political survival.
These mayors, politicians, and their supporters would rather see general decline—where everyone lives in relative poverty—than endure a system in which they are better off but others are doing even better because they are more talented, work harder, or are simply more capable.