I remember back in the old days when people used to think about ways that we could make housing more affordable for low and moderate income people. Well, that isn't what they talk about at the Washington Post. The Post wants to sustain bubble-inflated house prices and they want the government to intervene to keep prices high: "But, just as the Bear Stearns bailout can ultimately be justified only if it helps restore lasting confidence in financial institutions, so must the various housing plans stem the decline in home prices." Wow, if the Post has its way, a middle class home will always cost 6 or 7 times a middle class family's income in large parts of California and Florida and major cities on the East Coast. If such families want to become homeowners, they can look to spend 50 percent, or more, of their income on housing costs. I can understand looking at this situation and seeing it as an unfortunate outcome of market prices, but why would we want the government to intervene to deliberately bring about this result?
--Dean Baker
