Free Market

landlords I am tired of reading Ken Carlson's comments on the free market. He either doesn't understand the free market or is trying to mislead people. He claims that a free market would result "in a balance," but to him, "balance" means that rents don't go up. He is not talking about a "free market"; he is talking about a "controlled" market. In a free market, prices go up and down. We all know that rents were stable or decreasing for six or seven years in the 1990s and have risen quickly lately.

I just can't believe Roberta Gutierrez. Every letter she writes is so full of hate and spite toward landlords and other readers. Obviously, she stands to lose a great deal if this rent-control measure fails. She must have once been paying really low rent. I have my own views on some of the propaganda she has been pouring out. First of all, she should really learn to discern the difference between monopolistic or oligopolistic commodities like power and gasoline.

Responding to Mr. Fan's commentary of Oct. 4 is like trying to prove a negative. He quotes things that were never said and uses statistics that are made up. His position and numbers simply have no basis in fact. (Notice that he was not invited to move?) He does not appear to comprehend the written language or distinguish between fact and propaganda. Wherever did Mr. Fan get his statistics? He should fire his source! Or, at the very least, learn how to interpret the data.

If landlords don't like it, they can always just sell The new triumvirate of Realtors, the chamber of commerce and Foothill Apartment Assn., calling themselves Property Owners for Property Rights (POPR, pronounced "pauper"), attacks rent control on philosophical grounds, but it is POPR's reasoning that is below the poverty line. They say they favor "free market" over rent control, without explaining why their touted "free market" has so badly failed as to result in spiraling rents, but not achieve the balance they would have us believe will occur.

It is interesting that some readers refer to "Economics 101" without first completing the prerequisite -- History 101. When was this "glut" of rental housing in Glendale? When were landlords offering "all sorts of incentives to market their product?" 1940? 1956? 1962? Most of us were not looking for an apartment then! Supply and demand. Interesting concept. Wasn't that the same "concept" used to justify the push to deregulate the power industry? And wasn't that successful?

In his letter of Dec. 4, Mr. McCready pleaded for the city of Glendale to enact rent control, on the basis that rents are being increased. That must mean that there is a high demand for rented places, and thus the price they fetch reflects this. Which in turn means that the local economy must be good, attracting people to Glendale, or this would not be happening. So is the City Council to decide what the fair economic price is for anybody's rent?

Deregulation, or restructuring, as some call it, and the near-religious fervor surrounding "free market" advocacy coupled with continuing antigovernment propaganda are slowly leading this nation toward the brink of disaster. A truly free market does not exist and cannot exist when such an imbalance respecting pricing, costs, access to the political structure and inequitable tax policy creates a totally unlevel playing field between small businesses, the people and large corporate conglomerates!