
Robert Samuelson in the Washington Post today takes on the role of homeownership in our society. I’m generally a big fan of Samuelson’s writing, a normally sober, cold-eyed analysis of issues without favor to one ideology over another, so imagine my disappointment when reading him say, “The relentless promotion of homeownership as the embodiment of the American dream has outlived its usefulness.”
Of course, there’s more to his column. He goes on to say:
Unfortunately, we let a sensible goal become a foolish fetish. Not everyone can become a homeowner. Some are too young and footloose; some are too old and dependent; some are too poor or irresponsible. Some don’t want a home.
This is different that saying homeownership is not a worthy goal for our nation and is quite distinct from Richard Florida, who has previously written that homeownership is overrated and whose recent “Roadmap” to recovery focuses on de-emphasizing homeownership. Where Florida is right is in acknowledging that this would “blow up” the fundamentals of our economy.
He’s also engaging in what I call strategic diminishment – that is, consciously pursuing a future that is less than our current state. Many progressives and elites think we have it too good and that our lifestyle choices are harmful to ourselves and our planet. It’s not enough that they want to be scolds; they want to use the power of government to retrofit American to an earlier way of living where we had less.
And they also glorify this reduction as a “less is more” virtue. The Washington Post recently presented the case against air conditioning. I’ve addressed this concept of strategic diminishment as it relates to the Livable Communities Act and mobility, but this is also true for homeowners and covers not just the percentage of homeowners but even the size of homes. Ron Utt of the Heritage Foundation warns how even the President has adopted a worrisome narrative on homeownership.
Before we go off the deep end, let’s clear up two points. First, the crisis we’ve gotten ourselves into is not because people own homes. It’s because of the flawed policies promoting homeownership. The most obvious is the federal policies of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but also contributing were various land-use planning schemes collectively known as Smart Growth.
Second, homeownership has many benefits. Homeownership is more than a lifestyle choice; it’s a source of wealth and stability. It’s also the most common source for self-financing small businesses when homeowners take out a second mortgage on their homes. It’s an ideal and it works. So what should be our national posture on housing policy?
- Owning your own home is a laudable goal held by millions of Americans going as far back as our republic.
- Becoming a homeowner is positive good that should never be discouraged by government policy.
- Everyone should have the right to pursue homeownership, but not everyone is ready to be a homeowner.
- It’s not government’s role to determine who should be a homeowner or when and where they should buy a home.
- Free markets are better than government mandates at creating the environment in which some people buy homes while others rent.
Before we adopt A Nation of Renters as our new creed, let’s fix the broken policies that got us here.
This critical issue and many others will be presented at the 8th Annual Preserving the American Dream Conference in Orlando, Florida, September 23-25. Join us!