The way you frame the argument is ignoring all the social, economic, and political problems that come with attempts to solve the issue. Rent control, for instance, has some serious issues that arguably negate the benefits that come from it.
So if we want to outlaw rent control, we should outlaw fixed rate mortgages too, and eliminate the artificial cap on property taxes (something that corporations exploit by using shell companies to 'own' commercial real estate, and then transferring ownership or voting control of the shell company while shielding themselves from property tax on the current value of the real estate). But we both know that that's not likely to happen.
No. It began in SF as a very-specific response to Prop 13, which is essentially property-tax-control
Both are bad policies in terms of market distortion and are often the overlooked elephants in the room in discussion of housing supply and affordability.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_Engl...