Zuckerman and housing
http://politics.usnews.com/opinion/mzuckerman/articles/2010/09/23/the-american-dream-of-home-ownership-has-become-a-nightmare.html?PageNr=2
Zuckerman makes the point that home ownership has become, to the baby-boom generation, a ball and chain.
He's right, but there's an economic reasons that maybe that shouldn't change. Maybe more people should rent.
One of his comments about "ball and chain" was that home owners were unable to relocate to places they could get a job because they couldn't afford to leave their homes and they couldn't sell them.
And that's the reason family home ownership may never recover to the percentage it has been, and maybe it shouldn't. Our economy is mobile. Our economy is vulnerable to regional or local downturns severe enough to dislocate people to other industries as well as other areas, quickly. The modern economy demands agility--both in career and location.
People of this generation will never forget the high personal cost--in many cases an irrecoverable lifetime personal cost--of not having that agility. They will never forget the, "There but for the grace of God go I," experience of seeing friends, family, and former coworkers pay that price.
The cost of renting may be high--but the risk of owning has proven to be far higher.
Every investment carries risk.
"Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other--and scarce in that." -- Ben Franklin
Many of those who have lost badly from this experience were nobody's fool, and they're unlikely to forget the lesson.
Zuckerman makes the point that home ownership has become, to the baby-boom generation, a ball and chain.
He's right, but there's an economic reasons that maybe that shouldn't change. Maybe more people should rent.
One of his comments about "ball and chain" was that home owners were unable to relocate to places they could get a job because they couldn't afford to leave their homes and they couldn't sell them.
And that's the reason family home ownership may never recover to the percentage it has been, and maybe it shouldn't. Our economy is mobile. Our economy is vulnerable to regional or local downturns severe enough to dislocate people to other industries as well as other areas, quickly. The modern economy demands agility--both in career and location.
People of this generation will never forget the high personal cost--in many cases an irrecoverable lifetime personal cost--of not having that agility. They will never forget the, "There but for the grace of God go I," experience of seeing friends, family, and former coworkers pay that price.
The cost of renting may be high--but the risk of owning has proven to be far higher.
Every investment carries risk.
"Experience is a dear school, but fools will learn in no other--and scarce in that." -- Ben Franklin
Many of those who have lost badly from this experience were nobody's fool, and they're unlikely to forget the lesson.