Two scenarios have recently been occupying my thoughts. One is the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit, which allows people buying a primary residence to receive $8,000 from the Federal Government so long as they stay in the home for three years. Question is, “Is it virtuous to take $8,000 from the government to buy a house?” The second is a scenario I’ve heard is occurring more and more frequently: people abandoning their houses because they owe so much more on them than the houses are worth. Sometimes they’re renting, sometimes they’re even buying new homes first, but the essence of it is simply defaulting voluntarily to escape a bad investment. The obvious question is whether this is morally virtuous.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Housing Ethics
Two scenarios have recently been occupying my thoughts. One is the first-time homebuyer’s tax credit, which allows people buying a primary residence to receive $8,000 from the Federal Government so long as they stay in the home for three years. Question is, “Is it virtuous to take $8,000 from the government to buy a house?” The second is a scenario I’ve heard is occurring more and more frequently: people abandoning their houses because they owe so much more on them than the houses are worth. Sometimes they’re renting, sometimes they’re even buying new homes first, but the essence of it is simply defaulting voluntarily to escape a bad investment. The obvious question is whether this is morally virtuous.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment