Renter Nation

Will America return to renting? I didn't know this:

America is going back to being a renter nation. Up until the 1950s, the percentage of homeowners stayed at 40 percent. Aggressive government subsidies drove the percentage in recent years to above 65 percent. The housing “industry” ran out of buyers. A good 35 percent of Americans prefer the freedom of movement and lack of responsibility that comes from being a renter. We will likely return to being maybe a 55 percent homeowner nation.

We got the home ownership thing backwards. Home ownership is desirable because it is the result of middle ethics - work hard, save, provide for a family. So the government says, let's get more people owning their own homes, which will make them middle class. Lower interest rates, regulations, etc, etc. They wanted to skip the important steps: working hard, saving, providing. Oh well, live and learn.