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> Once upon a time, mass homelessness did not exist in the United States. The population of people without stable living situations periodically surged, but the

by aazaa 7y ago

> Once upon a time, mass homelessness did not exist in the United States. The population of people without stable living situations periodically surged, but these waves were temporary, subsiding as the economy improved. The phenomenon we now know as homelessness—pervasive, unremarkable, seemingly intractable—arose only in the 1980s. ... The author goes on to cite declines in federal low-income housing funding as the root cause. What does the full graph of this funding look like going back to the 1800s? I suspect that federal low-income housing was a product of the (unsustainable) Great Society initiative of the LBJ administration. It ramped up to a peak in the 1980s, then fell. Could it be that the true cause of the homeless problem every city in the country faces lies elsewhere than reduced federal funding?

EdwardDiego 7y ago
> I suspect that federal low-income housing was a product of the (unsustainable) Great Society initiative of the LBJ administration. Why was it unsustainable? Other countries sustain far higher social spend. Do you perhaps mean politically unsustainable? Especially given the stronger lean to the right that the Republicans have manifested last decade.
- aazaa 7y ago
  Funding a massive war effort (Vietnam) while spending freely on welfare programs (Guns and Butter) wasn't sustainable. A few short years later, the country was taken off the gold standard due to its recklessness. The effects of that action reverberate today in the trade war and blooming currency war. During the 1970s, the US experienced a surge of inflation that wreaked havoc with the economy. Many countries you allude to are in dire shape - especially Europe. They pay next to nothing (compared to US) in defense and a few have been richly endowed with oil reserves. Their economies have been teetering on recession for years and now are in the unenviable position of facing negative interest rates heading into recession.

by aazaa 7y ago

EdwardDiego 7y ago

> I suspect that federal low-income housing was a product of the (unsustainable) Great Society initiative of the LBJ administration. Why was it unsustainable? Other countries sustain far higher social spend. Do you perhaps mean politically unsustainable? Especially given the stronger lean to the right that the Republicans have manifested last decade.

aazaa 7y ago
Funding a massive war effort (Vietnam) while spending freely on welfare programs (Guns and Butter) wasn't sustainable. A few short years later, the country was taken off the gold standard due to its recklessness. The effects of that action reverberate today in the trade war and blooming currency war. During the 1970s, the US experienced a surge of inflation that wreaked havoc with the economy. Many countries you allude to are in dire shape - especially Europe. They pay next to nothing (compared to US) in defense and a few have been richly endowed with oil reserves. Their economies have been teetering on recession for years and now are in the unenviable position of facing negative interest rates heading into recession.