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Strategies & Market Trends : Value Investing -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Madharry who wrote (30684)	4/18/2008 1:16:27 PM
From: Oblomov	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 78715

MH, We might disagree on this point, but I think that public policy should be as neutral as possible in regard to investment. The preferential tax treatment of housing was one of the catalysts of the housing bubble, and it results in a suboptimal pattern of saving and investment over the course of one's lifetime. I liked this editorial: realclearmarkets.com What I think you touch on is the emotive aspect of housing: "a policy that encourages people to stay where they are instead of turning the keys back to the bank". Why don't we say something similar about people who get sold out of their stocks because they couldn't meet a margin call? The current policy reflects our emotional preferences with respect to different asset classes. I would say that (against the current policy) policy should not exacerbate the unintended consequences of these preferences.