We might not end up homeless, but homes might be the only thing we end up with… and so how do we eat homes?

Sir, Rana Foroohar writes “Central banks can’t create growth by themselves. They can only funnel money around.” “What Trump gets right” April 15.

Indeed, but the way they funnel money around can also promote obese growth, and impede muscular and sustainable growth.

If you fill a financial irrigation system with huge amounts of liquidity, QEs, and ultra low interest rates, and some of its most important canals, like the financing of entrepreneurs are, because you consider these as risky, blocked with high risk weighted bank capital requirements, there’s no doubt bad things will happen. Among other, that those channels relatively wider because they’re perceived “safer”, like sovereign and the purchase of houses, will get dangerously much credit.

Sir, just consider the role of so much the credit for the purchase of houses has had in turning houses from being homes into being investment assets (Washington Post 2018). I have not done the calculations but were we to deduct from the assets of the 99% less wealthy the worth of their houses, I am sure that we would be horrified about what little savings we would find. We might not end up homeless, but homes might be the only thing we end up with… and how do you eat a home?

@PerKurowski

PS. November 2025, Rana Foroohar wrote in FT: "I was encouraged by a recent pro­file of New York’s newly elec­ted mayor Zohran Mam­dani, which indicated he might have a more soph­isticated view than I had pre­vi­ously thought. In 2020, Mam­dani told a reporter, “What I’ve seen in my work is, it’s not ten­ant versus homeowner.” The afford­ab­il­ity crisis is, rather, “ten­ant and homeowner versus fin­an­cial speculator and investment bank port­fo­lio”. Hous­ing should be about shel­ter first and fore­most — not investors’ profits."

Foroohar and Mamdami would do well having a dialogue with AI about financial incentives and house prices.

PS. In 2025 there are about 86 million U.S. homeowners, a homeownership rate of about 65 percent. In 2024, Trump won with little more that 77 million votes. Does that not mean something?