2 ms·
Factually untrue: post-war housing was massively subsidized by the US government directly through FHA/GI Bill to buyers and significant infrastructure spending
by germinalphrase 8y ago
Factually untrue: post-war housing was massively subsidized by the US government directly through FHA/GI Bill to buyers and significant infrastructure spending (US highway system, water/sanitation, etc).
The US social contract was largely predicated on the idea that subsidizing citizens to obtain housing would lead them to be stable and productive workers/consumers and avoid communist tendencies.
Of course, communism is not now a threat and we are likewise not seeing such public investment in any common vision for a renewed social contract.
- User23 8y agoNo doubt the mostly defense spending you describe provided fiscal stimulus to the economy and led to the benefits you list, but that's not the same as a subsidy, which would mean something like Section 8 vouchers. The real driving force was that wage growth massively outpaced costs. After the war ended it was routine to pay off a 15 year mortgage a decade early, because real wages rose so much. Similarly, our current lousy situation is the result of median real wages staying flat for decades.