[Grammar] a policy that had been vs a a policy that was

[DANAU]

Hi.

I have extracted the sentence below from a local newspaper article.

"From Berkeley in California to London, the high price of property is reviving debates about rent controls
- a policy that had been considered taboo in many places for a generation."

I am wondering if I could use simple past "was considered" to substitute for the past perfect?
If not, appreciate you can explain the rationale behind the need to use past perfect in this case.

 

[GoesStation]

I have extracted the sentence below from a local newspaper article.

"From Berkeley in California to London, the high price of property is reviving debates about rent controls - a policy that had been considered taboo in many places for a generation."

I am wondering if I could use the simple past "was considered" to substitute for the past perfect?
If not, I'd appreciate it if you [STRIKE]can[/STRIKE] could explain the rationale behind the need to use the past perfect in this case.

This one's pretty simple. The writer used the past perfect because being considered taboo happened in a time frame that ended before the debates were revived. Nevertheless, the past simple is also possible here; it just wouldn't express that nuance.

 

[tedmc]

The past perfect tense establishes the order of the time frame more clearly. In this case, the policy being considered a taboo came before the reviving of debates. Sometimes time frames may overlap.

 

[Rover_KE]

It's odd that a Singaporean newspaper should stipulate Berkeley, CA without specifying which of the 29 Londons* in the world is being referenced.

* including one in California.

Even if we assume it's London, England, there's a large part of the world which isn't situated between these two cities.

 

[DANAU]

Hi Rover_KE.

I think the younger singaporean are more familiar with America than England.
But our founding prime minister Lee Kuan Yew was a good friend of Margaret Thatcher, and our educational and legal system
are taking reference from that of England too.

 

[emsr2d2]

I think [STRIKE]the[/STRIKE] younger Singaporeans are more familiar with America than England.
But our founding prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, was a good friend of Margaret Thatcher, and our educational and legal systems are [STRIKE]taking reference from[/STRIKE] are based on [STRIKE]that[/STRIKE] those of England too.

Note my corrections above.