Price controls are restrictions set in place and enforced by governments, on the prices that can be charged for goods and services in a market. The intent behind implementing such controls can stem from the desire to maintain affordability of goods even during shortages, and to slow inflation, or, alternatively, to ensure a minimum income for providers of certain goods or to try to achieve a living wage. There are two primary forms of price control: a price ceiling, the maximum price that can be charged; and a price floor, the minimum price that can be charged. A well-known example of a price ceiling is rent control, which limits the increases that a landlord is permitted by government to charge for rent. A widely used price floor is minimum wage (wages are the price of labor). Historically, price controls have often been imposed as part of a larger incomes policy package also employing wage controls and other regulatory elements. Although price controls are routinely used by governments, Western economists generally agree that price controls do not accomplish what they intend to, and many economists instead recommend such controls should be avoided. For example, nearly three-quarters of a sample of 1,350 U.S. economists surveyed in the early 1990s disagreed with the statement, "Wage-price controls are a useful policy option in the control of inflation." History The Roman Emperor Diocletian tried to set maximum prices for all commodities in the late 3rd century AD but with little success. In the early 14th century, the Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji instituted several market reforms, which included price-fixing for a wide range of goods, including grains, cloth, slaves and animals. However, a few months after his death, these measures were revoked by his son Qutbuddin Mubarak Shah. During the French Revolution, the Law of the Maximum set price limits on the sale of food and other staples. Governments in planned economies typically control prices on most or all goods but have not sustained high economic performance and have been almost entirely replaced by mixed economies. Price controls have also been used in modern times in less-planned economies, such as rent control. During World War I, the United States Food Administration enforced price controls on food. Price controls were also imposed in the US and Nazi Germany during World War II. Postwar Wage controls have been tried in many countries to reduce inflation, seldom successfully.