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There is a very good economic reason for encouraging people to own property, and that is to do with collateral and their ability to take risk. Once you build up

There is a very good economic reason for encouraging people to own property, and that is to do with collateral and their ability to take risk. Once you build up a strong financial asset such as a house, it can provide a basis for collateral and allowing you to take new business risks. Lack of property rights and collateral are a key reason that so many people around the world are trapped in poverty as they cannot secure funds to invest in their businesses and grow their wealth. As the saying goes, it takes money to make money. For more information on this look at Hernando De Soto's writings on property rights.

malandrew 13y ago
What you propose is not at odds with what you are replying to. Imagine an alternate timeline of the US where we did not promote homeownership. This alternate US would likely have many many forms of REITs, in which regular people could invest in. No one would have to buy a whole house, just participation in one or more homes, perhaps a subdivision or even a city. This alternate timeline would promote more focus on increasing the value of the city than the value of a single home. It would also reward those who got there early without allowing them to block all progress since there is financial benefit for all.