Varieties of Residential Capitalism

Housing is a central economic ($33 trillion in US housing wealth) and social (how do I make my mortgage?) issue, yet the politics of housing are understudied. This project asks what drove a 30-year shift in rich country housing from a consumption item into an asset? What are the social and psychological consequences of rising housing prices and rents? How have rising prices affected household formation (i.e. why can't kids get out of mom's basement)? How is housing finance central to financial markets? The project also will generate a set of country cases examining the extreme instances of these larger themes.