Rent control is one of the most studied — and most controversial — interventions in housing policy. While intended to protect tenants from rising costs, decades of economic research from institutions including Stanford, MIT, and the National Bureau of Economic Research consistently show that rent control reduces rental housing supply, leads to housing quality deterioration, creates inefficient allocation of units, and ultimately makes housing less affordable for newcomers. Our analysis examines rent control and rent stabilization programs across U.S. cities, drawing on empirical data and the economic framework of Friedman, Sowell, and Hayek.