Housing costs are rising fastest in -- Montana, Utah, and South Carolina? That must be some kind of joke, right? Sorry, there is no punchline. Only American families, getting punched in the gut. The economy is doing so well, why are Americans so pessimistic? I keep reading variations of this story over and over --
Good post. One thing that we can do in the short-medium term -- not not politically easy -- is reduce the federal deficit. The deficit has required the Fed to raise interest rates more than otherwise and will prevent it from returning rates to pre-pandemic levels.
The other, reforming zoning laws and building codes, city by city, state by state, will be long hard slog.
Not sure how I got this article but here goes. As serious as affordable housing is a major challenge, it's part of a huge problem going back to the mid 70's. The golden era of a large prosperous middle class ended with the Reagan era of "free markets", weak unions & corporate greed. David Leonhardt has addressed economic inequality & non-economic iss ues like immigration, crime, etc in his new book, Our was the Shining Future. Although he doesn't focus on housing, he addresses corporate greed, the need for progressive union leaders & unions & a just progressive income tax. Unaffordable housing, health care & higher education have paralyzed the American Dream of each generation climbing higher than their parents. In addition to the previously mentioned remedies, we need to resume quality public education without interference by cultural warriors.
Good post. One thing that we can do in the short-medium term -- not not politically easy -- is reduce the federal deficit. The deficit has required the Fed to raise interest rates more than otherwise and will prevent it from returning rates to pre-pandemic levels.
The other, reforming zoning laws and building codes, city by city, state by state, will be long hard slog.
You gotta take the home voter hypothesis seriously.
Biden would be in worse shape politically, all else equal, if home prices had dropped.
Not sure how I got this article but here goes. As serious as affordable housing is a major challenge, it's part of a huge problem going back to the mid 70's. The golden era of a large prosperous middle class ended with the Reagan era of "free markets", weak unions & corporate greed. David Leonhardt has addressed economic inequality & non-economic iss ues like immigration, crime, etc in his new book, Our was the Shining Future. Although he doesn't focus on housing, he addresses corporate greed, the need for progressive union leaders & unions & a just progressive income tax. Unaffordable housing, health care & higher education have paralyzed the American Dream of each generation climbing higher than their parents. In addition to the previously mentioned remedies, we need to resume quality public education without interference by cultural warriors.