A Good Note on Policy

Tom Angotti of the Gotham Gazette Makes a very good point:

Neither of the two candidates [Obama and McCain] has explicitly acknowledged the failure of the current urban policy that single-mindedly promotes homeownership. But if history is not to repeat itself, both parties might do well to explicitly acknowledge the needs and problems of urban renters - that means the majority of New Yorkers -- and redefine the "American Dream" as a stable job, a rent-controlled apartment and a safe, walkable urban environment.

This is true. In addition to being a failure in regulation and monetary policy, it is a failure of philosophy on two levels:

• As Greenspan admits free market fundamentalism has failed.
• The idea of a stand alone home owned by the occupant as an unexpurgated good.

Many of our problems, not just the housing crash, but also urban sprawl, are a direct result of the latter philosophy.