exhalations

Homes as Hummers

Today's post contains a good article by Robert J. Samuelson entitled Homes as Hummers. He discusses the boom in large houses, comparing them to large SUVs, especially as they related to energy consumption. As I've said many times in the past, much of our suburban sprawl is being directly financed by the U.S. government in the form of mortgage deductions:

In 2005, about 80 percent of the estimated $200 billion of federal housing subsidies consists of tax breaks (mainly deductions for mortgage interest payments and preferential treatment for profits on home sales), reports an Urban Institute study. These tax breaks go heavily to upscale Americans, who are thereby encouraged to buy bigger homes. Federal housing benefits average $8,268 for those with incomes between $200,000 and $500,000, estimates the study; by contrast, they're only $365 for those with incomes of $40,000 to $50,000. It's nutty for government to subsidize bigger homes for the well-to-do.

posted by Bruce Wright at 12:49 PM #

Currently Reading

Recently Read

Music

Artists