Funny that GP whas one of the comments that made immediate intuitive sense to me. By the simple principle of demand / supply ~ price, price controls (in a time of high prices, which is because of scarcity), should inhibit creation of more supply. Leaving prices to their natural forces should allow creation of more supply, which, regardless of the price level, should relax the market and lead to lower prices.
While price controls might keep the supply affordable to a larger share of the population, that doesn't help the fact that there isn't enough supply, so instead of money, other mechanisms influence who gets to buy the goods. This could be: Who is most willing to invest an unhealthy amount of time and energy, who is eligible to maybe acquire state funding, or simply who is the lucky one. Is any of this better than letting money decide? I tend to think no and think it would be better to have a functioning market with reasonable prices.
While price controls might keep the supply affordable to a larger share of the population, that doesn't help the fact that there isn't enough supply, so instead of money, other mechanisms influence who gets to buy the goods. This could be: Who is most willing to invest an unhealthy amount of time and energy, who is eligible to maybe acquire state funding, or simply who is the lucky one. Is any of this better than letting money decide? I tend to think no and think it would be better to have a functioning market with reasonable prices.