How America Outlawed The Affordable Home

Video Description

Get AnyDesk for free today: https://anydesk.com/spectacles Our housing crisis is 200 years in the making. — Patreon: https://spectacles.link/patreon Nebula: https://spectacles.link/nebula Merch: https://spectacles.link/shop Discord: https://spectacles.link/discord Script: https://www.spectacles.news/why-america-made-cheap-homes-illegal/ For citations, turn on CC. Sources below ↓ — About us: Spectacles is a love letter to democracy, its values, its caretakers, and its ideas. Around the world, individual rights and representative government are facing unprecedented attacks from the forces of reaction and revisionism. But despite liberal democracy’s real shortcomings and today’s all-too-fashionable cynicism, we remain committed to its preservation and improvement. Join us as we explore just what liberal democracy is, how it comes about, and how it can best be maintained in a changing world. — SOURCES: **NOTE:** All pre-2025 dollar amounts have been adjusted using this inflation calculator: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/ A. “The State of the Nation’s Housing 2025.” 2025. Harvard.edu. 2025. https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing-2025. B. Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, *Abundance* (Avid Reader Press, 2025). C. “Lakewood, California (and the Lakewood Plan)" in Goldfield, David. 2007. Encyclopedia of American Urban History. SAGE Publications, Inc. EBooks. SAGE Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781412952620. D. Tianfang Cui, 2023. “The Emergence of Exclusionary Zoning across American Cities.” https://www.tom-cui.com/assets/pdfs/LotsEZ_Latest.pdf. E. Ryan Reft, “[The Lakewood Plan: Homeownership, Taxes, and Diversity in Postwar Suburbia](https://www.pbssocal.org/history-society/the-lakewood-plan-homeownership-taxes-and-diversity-in-postwar-suburbia),” *PBS SoCal*, 16 January 2015. F. US Census Bureau, “2015 Characteristics of New Housing,” 2015. G. U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Median Sales Price of Houses Sold for the United States [MSPUS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. H. Garn-St. Germain Depository Institutions Act, Title VIII (1982). I. Ronald Reagan, “Remarks on Signing the Garn-St Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982,” 15 October 1982. J. Joe Mahon, “Financial Services Modernization Act of 1999 (Gramm-Leach-Bliley),” *Federal Reserve History*, 22 November 2013. K. John Weinberg, “The Great Recession and Its Aftermath,” *Federal Reserve History*, 22 November, 2013. L. U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, New Privately-Owned Housing Units Started: Total Units [HOUST], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. M. Keith Goodwin, “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010,” *Federal Reserve History*, 22 November 2013. N. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (US), Federal Funds Effective Rate [FEDFUNDS], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, December 8, 2025. O. Freddie Mac, 30-Year Fixed Rate Mortgage Average in the United States [MORTGAGE30US], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. P. Alex Strong, “How Tariffs Impact the Home Building Industry,” *National Association of Homebuilders.* Q. “First-Time Home Buyer Share Falls to Historic Low of 21%, Median Age Rises to 40,” *National Association of Realtors*, 4 November 2025. R. Samantha Delouya, “Trump just floated a 50-year mortgage. Is that a good idea?” in *CNN*, 11 November 2025. S. Conor Doughty, “After Years of Failure, California Lawmakers Pave the Way for More Housing,” *New York Times*, 26 August 2021. T. Ben Christopher, “‘Limited to no impact’: Why a pro-housing group says California’s pro-housing laws aren’t producing more,” *CalMatters*, 24 February 2025. U. Francesca Mari, “How an American Dream of Housing Became a Reality in Sweden,” *New York Times*, 26 June 2024. — 00:00 INTRO 01:55 I. STASIS 02:38 II. INDUSTRY 07:10 III. DEPRESSION 09:12 IV. "GOLDEN AGE" 11:38 V. REFORM 14:55 VI. CRASH 19:14 VII. SOLUTIONS 22:31 VIII. THE CHALLENGE — Select imagery/video supplied by Getty Images Includes Music by Tom Fox Special thanks to Helper Bee Cat