The President's Housing Commission and Two Tests of Realistic Recommendations

Abstract

The most commendable work of the President's Housing Commission suffered from two major faults. First, the Commission failied to quantify the costs of alternative policies. This led to biased judgments about what forms of housing aids to adopt. The Commission rejected making housing vouchers for poor renters an entitlement program because that would be too costly. But it accepted continuation of present tax benefits for non‐poor homeowners, though they are also entitlements vastly more expensive than the program it rejected. Second, the Commission correctly attacked local government restrictions for causing high housing costs. But it failed to provide any strong incentives for local governments to reduce such restrictions.