Housing

The current crash gives time to think about solutions going forward. Some argue that home ownership should be supported by more bailouts of the housing industry and home owners. I desagree. Home ownership should be encouraged to a degree but not as much as it is. Currently home ownership is seen as a benefit in and of itself and is treated as so by the tax code. Mortgage interest tax credits are fucking screwing the non-home-owning poor and contributing to sprawl. I don't have data to contribute to my point, but I want to present my argument regardless.

Tax credits for mortgage interest bring many people into the realm where the tax credits make a difference. Otherwise the tax credits don't mean shit. Many tax credits which give low-income people (as people like I, who made $30 grand last year) a tax break don't do squat because itemizing our taxes doesn't do anything for us.

Instead, we get the ideal of one day in the future owning a home. Bucolic goodness. Fuck it. Promoting home ownership as a good in and of itself creates sprawl. Cities with lax regulation see housing booms while cities with more reasonable urban planning see housing inflation in sympathy. That is the race to the bottom. Promoting home ownership creates sprawl, which is harmful. Limit your homes and create equal tax breaks for renters.

I get housing at a reasonable cost, and I provde a meaningful return for my landlord while avoiding sprawl (I live near city center on public mass transit). No tax break for me! Fuck that!