Rent!
Matthew Yglesias notes the benefits of renting, which is only increasing as the economy tightens up:
Given all that, it seems that there’s no reason for our policy and rhetoric to include a strong bias in favor of homeownership. Renting gives people more flexibility about where they live, which is probably a good thing in a continent-sized economy where there can be a lot of localized booms and busts. What’s more, a house you own combines two elements — a consumption good element and a savings element. Renting separates that out — you rent as much house as you feel like consuming, and then you save money by buying mutual funds or whatever. When people own they tend to wind up living inside they mutual fund, which means buying a bigger house than they might have rented, which distorts energy consumption patterns and all kinds of other things.
This seems like a good time to point everyone to Clive Crook’s classic Atlantic polemic in defense of renting, or more precisely, his polemic attack on home ownership. So here it is, “Why Home Ownership Hurts America.” One of the best commentaries I’ve read in recent years.
