[MissoulaGov] Richard Florida - How the Crash Will Reshape America

[Russ Fletcher]

Interesting views from Richard Florida of "The Rise of the Creative 
Class" fame.


> So how do we move past the bubble, the crash, and an aging, 

> obsolescent model of economic life? What’s the right spatial fix for 

> the economy today, and how do we achieve it?

>

> The solution begins with the removal of homeownership from its 

> long-privileged place at the center of the U.S. economy. Substantial 

> incentives for homeownership (from tax breaks to artificially low 

> mortgage-interest rates) distort demand, encouraging people to buy 

> bigger houses than they otherwise would. That means less spending on 

> medical technology, or software, or alternative energy—the sectors and 

> products that could drive U.S. growth and exports in the coming years. 

> Artificial demand for bigger houses also skews residential patterns, 

> leading to excessive low-density suburban growth. The measures that 

> prop up this demand should be eliminated.

>

Paul Romer famously said, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.”


        Richard Florida - How the Crash Will Reshape America
        <http://matr.net/article-33011.html>