Public Policy and Housing in the United States（在美国公共政策和住房）.pdf

This PDF is a selection from an out-of-print volume from the National Bureau of Economic Research Volume Title: Housing Markets in the U.S. and Japan Volume Author/Editor: Yukio Noguchi and James Poterba Volume Publisher: University of Chicago Press Volume ISBN: 0-226-59015-1 Volume URL: /books/nogu94-2 Conference Date: January 3-4, 1991 Publication Date: January 1994 Chapter Title: Public Policy and Housing in the United States Chapter Author: James M. Poterba Chapter URL: /chapters/c8828 Chapter pages in book: (p. 239 - 256) 10 PublicPolicyand Housing inthe United States James M.Poterba 10.1 Introduction Housing accounts for one-sixth of consumption expenditure in the United States, second only to foodamong budgetcategories. Itisalso the expenditure categorythat is most directly affectedby public policy. The U.S. tax code is the most important policy instrumentthat affects housing. The federal income tax subsidizes homeownersbynotincluding imputed rent inthetaxbase,while allowingdeductions for mortgage interestpayments.Therehavealsobeengen- erous subsidies to rental housing through accelerated depreciationand other tax benefits. Publicpolicy also affects thehousing sector through avariety ofprograms to supportborrowing for home purchase. Targeted low-interest credit initia- tives, such as the Federal Housing Administrationandthe VeteransAdminis- trationloanprogram, permit certain classesof individualstoborrow at below- market interest rates. Moregenerally,the entirehousing sectorhashistorically benefited from federal support of savings and loan institutions and from the operationof federal agenciessuchastheFederal National Mortgage Associa- tion, which facilitatesmoothoperationof a secondary mortgage market. Finally, a number of federal and state-local programs assist low-income householdsinfindinghousing. These include communitydevelopmentgrants, subsidies to co