and no one is talking about the origin of the housing crisis. Ok, not no one, but the people in charge are ignoring the biggest problem in hopes of things continuing on as they have in the past once the crisis is over. In the mean time the Rethuglikans and newsbunnies are blaming greedy homeowners, but that’s wrong.

For the last 30 years or so, wages have been stagnant while inflation continues to rise like a hot air balloon on a cold morning. So if people, average everyday people, can’t save for retirement or their children’s education because the money the earn from work isn’t keeping up with the cost of living they turn to other sources of revenue. And because they aren’t wealthy people with stock portfolios, they invest in something much more useful and tangible to them, their homes.

And we as a society and as a country have been promoting this kind of investment for a very long time. It is almost a moral imperative that people buy a home. It is the crux of the American dream.

So people buy homes, even poor people. It’s the only way they can get ahead. And when more people buy homes, home prices go up. And with more competition, people sink more money into their homes to get more value out of them.