Fortunate People in a Fortunate Land

“A secret history of rent control, Fortunate People in a Fortunate Land shows just how impactful housing policies can be. Focusing on real lives rather than arid statistics, Everett makes a powerful case that these sensible, humane, and popular measures can enrich our lives and communities.”—Nick Bano, barrister (England and Wales) and author of Against Landlords: How to Solve the Housing Crisis

“Economists have studied rent control and concluded it does not work. They claim it disincentivizes repairs, disproportionally benefits higher earners, and incentivizes landlords to remove housing from the market, thus driving up rents for others. But none of this research accounts for the experience of the individual rent-controlled tenant, who benefits significantly from the stability the policy ensures. Everett’s well-written Fortunate People in a Fortunate Land is the first to examine rent control from the perspective of these tenants and is a vital contribution to debates on rent control specifically and the housing crisis more broadly.”— Amanda Huron, Professor of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of the District of Columbia, and author of Carving out the Commons: Tenant Organizing and Housing Cooperatives in Washington, D.C.