With the arrival of the Biden Democratic presidency in the USA, there are increasing calls for what can be described as “big government” solutions to the nation’s problems. This after decades of “small government” politics pursed by both Republicans AND Democrats. Those policies have historically dismissed many national problems such as truly affordable housing from public responsibility and consigned their solution to the the semi-magical workings of “economics 101” as practiced by the private sector.
There is no immediate reason for optimism that the centrist-leaning Biden government (beyond the fond wishes of the progressive wing of the Democratic party) will make any immediate return to big government initiatives, which are inevitably tarred with a “socialist” brush.
However, there are a great many who believe that government has hands-on responsibilities that transcend mere garbage collection. There’s always hope.
In the spirit of unity, Politico magazine has greeted Biden’s inauguration with a wish list for change from respected thinkers in a number of fields, some of which lean to bigger government rather than smaller. One of those wishes is for a decidedly big government solution to the nation’s truly affordable housing problems. That is a recommitment to public housing.
A year ago and more, even the most optimistic of US housing activists were ruefully answering queries about the prospects of new public housing in America with “not in my lifetime.”
Things are changing. Within the context of a Politico prescription for change is just such a call for a return to public housing by Thomas J. Sugrue, director of the Cities Collaborative at New York University. It’s set up as an “article” within a collection of them, unfortunately without it’s own URL to allow a direct jump to its location.
For those interested in this call for American public housing, either begin at the start and read the collection of diverse ideas until you bump into the public housing piece: in Politico: President Biden Wants to Unite the Country. How Can He Do It?
. . . or, once at the head of the article, use your browser’s search capability to find all or part of the following article header: Increase access to affordable housing.
