When the same economist, or even one not so eminent, tells you that trade is wealth creating, or that rent control reduces the supply of affordable housing, that wages rise as productivity does, believe them for this is the part of the subject that is well understood, where the basic ground rules really are known.

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Rent-controlled flats in New York or Santa Monica are available only to those with connections, creating corruption in the housing market and a border tax on newcomers who must pay higher rents.

ECONOMIST: Climate of change

Or to put it another way, a good proportion of all that innovation and trading was not serving the wealth-creating instincts of businesses and households, but was (consciously or unconsciously) picking their pockets or extracting rent from them - by selling them stuff that was impossibly complex and whose true risks were hidden.

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