Wow, your post demonstrates incompetence. #1 -- median home prices have shot up. That includes homes without {stainless steel appliances, marble counters, and

Wow, your post demonstrates incompetence. #1 -- median home prices have shot up. That includes homes without {stainless steel appliances, marble counters, and whatever else it is you think people shouldn't be consuming} #2 -- people didn't just choose homes they couldn't afford. Banks gave people loans they had no hope of repaying. Bankers lied on applications to get their clients larger mortgages. Appraisers inflated valuations. Credit agencies accepted bribes to allow banks to syndicate loans. Government, in this case mostly Republicans, looked the other way as housing advocates begged for intervention. Your natural order is characteristic of your utter lack of knowledge. Banks didn't hold the vast majority of mortgages, so they got paid either way. The government was not at fault for guaranteeing loans -- try actually learning something about the situation. Fannie / Freddie loans plummeted as a share of the market and performed, and continue to perform, far better than mortgages originated elsewhere. The government (/we/nation) is involved in the housing market -- and this is complicated -- because PEOPLE NEED A PLACE TO LIVE. So while I agree that government probably oughtn't be involved in, say, video game production, they should be involved in {housing, food, medicine, education} -- basically life's necessities. I'm sorry for being blunt, but perhaps you could try educating yourself just a tiny bit before forming and sharing nonsensical opinions.