ABSTRACT
Analysts often tend to view housing in a parochial manner, without questioning the overall implications of government policy for the type of economic system we live in. Housing possesses certain characteristics which, taken together, make it quite distinctive as an economic good. These characteristics make housing particularly vulnerable to the profit-making structure of capitalism and therefore make housing a particularly good example of the injustices and inefficiencies of the present economic order. The Federal Housing Administration was established by the National Housing Act of 1934. Risk reduction was provided by the insurance or guarantee of the mortgage by a federal agency, and so the system was built around this feature. Mortgage lenders are clearly major beneficiaries of the scarcity and resulting high prices of housing. The political significance of these benefits becomes clearer when the scope of the housing sector and the nature of mortgage lenders is considered.
