History 1807 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Fannie Mae, Secondary Mortgage Market, Government-Sponsored Enterprise
7 Dec 2015
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Document Summary
Mortgaging the american dream: beginning in the postwar years owning a house becomes one of the primary signifiers of success in the united states. Promise of home ownership reflected both the growing prosperity of. American society following the second world war as well as the need to house returned soldiers. Shift toward home ownership altered the demographic patterns of the country as more people moved from rental units in urban centers to single- family homes in the suburbs. Space and freedom associated with owning a suburban home contrasted with the cramped and stifling conditions of urban centers. Soon, the individualism that came with home ownership would be lost in the conformity that inevitably arises with the spread of suburbia. This american dream of home ownership, which had come to represent the spirit of american free-market capitalism, was largely made possible by the federal government: widespread home ownership, in fact, is incompatible with free market capitalism. revenue.
