The Promotion of Homeownership as an Overriding Goal

clipped from blogs.wsj.com As voters ponder which candidate to support in the run for the White House, the nation’s economic problems are being pushed to the forefront. One big question: Who’s to blame for the current financial crisis that has its roots in the housing and credit markets? The blame doesn’t rest with just one political party — nor can it be assigned to one sector or level of government, write Greg Ip, James R. Hagerty and Jonathan Karp in today’s Journal. “The nation gorged itself on home-buying, something once considered as American as apple pie,” they say. “We went crazy as a country with the goals…saying, ‘Everybody’s got to have a house,’ ” said Richard Syron, chief executive of Freddie Mac and a former Carter Treasury and Federal Reserve official, in December. Readers, is the dream of homeownership for all, just a dream? Was the promotion of homeownership one of the driving causes of the current crisis in housing? –Lauren Baier Kim