Customer Reviews

Excluded Americans: Homelessness and Housing Policies

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I chanced upon this in a book sale, opened it up for a quick skim and didn't put it down for an hour. This is a fascinating and analytical view of homelessness and housing policy that is presented in a well structured, very readable format. Mr. Tucker examines a broad range of possible drivers for homelessness before finally concluding that the greatest cause of homelessness are the well intentioned policies put in place to try to alleviate it. It is a welcome message for the times we live in that in most cases, simply allowing the natural functioning of free markets brings the greatest good to the greatest number of people. In the case of housing policy, rent control and public housing regulations have only served to deter the creation of new housing in areas where it is desperately needed and to erode the incentive to maintain existing structures targeted at low income tenants. Mr. Tucker's arguments, which combine basic economic theory with compelling empirical evidence, are very convincing.