1.9.

a. Consider Figure 5.8. In a price-controlled market like this one, when will consumer surplus be larger: in the short run or in the long run?

b. In this market, supply is more elastic, more flexible, in the long run. In other words, in the longer term, landlords and homebuilders can find something else to do for a living. In light of this and in light of the geometry of producer surplus in this figure, do rent controls hurt landlords and homebuilders more in the short run or in the long run?