Yes, I'm ignoring your completely unsupported hypothetical about subsidies.

You don't need to invent fancy theories to explain rents in SF: we're in a demand bubble, driven by the influx of venture-funded tech companies into the city. This is neither new, nor surprising.

I totally agree that we're in a demand bubble, but it's exacerbated by rent control and the historical difficulty of building new units.

This isn't a very fancy theory, it just effects supply and demand. I don't think you'll find many economists who would disagree with the assertion that rent control reduces supply, thus driving up prices. That reduction is caused by people incentivized to stay in a unit when they otherwise might have moved.

Exacerbated by how much? Is the effect bigger or smaller than the huge, obvious and clearly explained demand changes over the past few years?