The rent is too damn high in New York City. But why is it so high? Who is most affected by it? And what should we do? Is high rent simply a measure of a city's success? A scourge for the poor? Are the affordable housing initiatives of the De Blasio administration simple justice? A wasteful program driven by politics? These and other questions will be addressed.

Welcome and IntroductionProvost John Coatsworth, Columbia UniversityPanelistsCarl Weisbrod, Chairman of the New York City Planning CommissionGilles Duranton, Dean's Chair in Real Estate Professor, WhartonIngrid Gould Ellen, Paulette Goddard Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, NYUModerated by Donald R. Davis, Professor of Economics and Chair, Columbia University Economics